The Ninja and the Gunman
by BeccaStryfe
Summary: Complete :Crossover: Naruto/Trigun. They were both suffering, trapped in their own prison worlds apart. Fate will bring them together, but can they tolerate each other long enough to see beneath the surface or will they destroy each other? Knives x Hinata. Complete. Rating between M to MA
1. Chapter 1

Hello to all those who have read some of my other stories, I've been a little out of the loop. Have to go back and go through some of the other stories I've written, but I wanted to add something new. Hope you like, I want to keep this short cause everyone else has them,

DISCLAIMER: that I do NOT own Naruto. Never figured out what those were about anyway.

**Summary**

Hinata is sent on a simple mission that turns into something more complex. Orrochimaru appears, and Hinata becomes his captive. She spends months tortured by Orrochimaru, and when she's down the most she makes a wish to be as far away as she could possibly be. An unknown force grants her wish, and now Hinata has found herself on a desert planet in the care of none other than the humanoid typhoon! Like I said don't really know where I'm going with this.

Hinata is the main character, but I haven't decided whom else I'm going to add to the story yet. It will be interesting so check it out, and please review.

_**Chapter 1**_

Darkness. The stinging pain was the only thing that reminded her that she was still alive. Where was she? Opening her eyes ever slightly she could see the Dank and wet walls which were her prison. Large metal bars stood as a locked entrance to the cell which held her. As the haze began to clear, her memory started to return. She was His captive. That man, if you could call him such. The sound of footsteps heading in her direction caught her attention. Praying hard, she waited to see if they stopped. Two ninja passed her cell without paying any notice to her. She sighed heavily. She was safe. For now ...

Hinata sat up slightly and looked at her surroundings. It was the same cell she saw every day now for the last four months. Had it only been that long? Moving her arms Hinata hissed with pain. Her wrists were sore, heck everything was sore. It didn't help that her wrists were crusted with blood from the various cuts. Looking at the ceiling she thought back to how this whole mess had even started. She had been on a mission assigned by the Hokage, Tsunade. The mission had only been a C rank, tracking down a common thief who had caused much trouble for a wealthy couple in the Fire Country.

At first the mission seemed ordinary enough. On top of that Shino was with her. The thief was tracked down in a forest just outside the Fire Country's borders. The problem was that it was niether Shino or herself who had stopped him. The thief thought he could pick pocket the wrong guy, and in turn found himself on the ground gasping for air. The one whom the thief had tried to pick pocket was a young man with light hair, and round glasses. Kabuto. He'd quickly turned his attention towards the two Konaha ninja.

Footsteps returned again, the sound of small chatter echoing into the cell. Quickly Hinata closed her eyes and hoped that she would be safe yet again. For the second time since she'd awoken the footsteps faded as they pasted through the hall. With a grateful sigh of relief she tried once more to break the bonds that held her. The chains rattled violently, but did not give way. Giving up on the chains, Hinata thought back to the battle that had landed her in the dank cell.

Kabuto had been too quick, and experienced, even against Shino. She remembered Shino being stuck in his leg with a kunai shortly after being affected with some kind of poison. He then whirled around on her, his chakra blade swinging with great speed and efficiency. With the power of her Byakugan she evaded his attacks, but still she was not fast enough. Kabuto thrust his knee into her stomach, his one arm coming down into her neck. And then everything faded. Her world went black, and when she awoke, she was investigating this dark dirty cell for the first time. Kabuto had said that he'd killed Shino, but she couldn't believe it. No, she wouldn't believe it. Even in this situation she refused to believe Shino had been killed. But if that were the case, then why didn't he return for her?

In her four months she had been beaten, stabbed, psychologically abused, and thrown into shock more times then she could remember. Drawing up her knees, she bowed her head to hide her tears. Nothing would make her happier then to find some way out. Go somewhere far away. Hinata was so consumed in her thoughts that she did not see the young girl standing in the corner. The girl looked as though she was no more then ten, and should have been standing next to her mother then anywhere else. Her body glowed strangely, but she said nothing while Hinata fell asleep.

* * *

The suns where high in the sky as the day rolled on, the market streets packed with townspeople. Everyone seemed to be out and about on such a nice, especially the children who ran about loudly.

"Vash wait up!"

"These donuts look like their fresh!"

"You betcha, I don't sell anything less sonny."

The tall blonde haired man smiled brightly. "All right! I would like a dozen donuts please."

"Vash isn't that a bit much?" a short girl questioned as she seemed to be catching her breath.

"But Meryl, I'm hungry!"

Meryl sighed heavily as the tall man pouted. "All right, all right."

"I don't know why you dragged me out here." The voice came from a man who stood a ways away. He wore a red shirt with black pants, and his hair was noticably shorter and lighter then the others. He was, however, about the same height.

Vash scowled slightly. "Come on Knives, lighten up, and have some fun."Knives made a grunting sound. "Why are you always like this?"

"You know perfectly well why. If I still had MY gun, I'd destroy this whole damned down."

"Vash!"

Vash's attention turned to Meryl who had wondered off towards one of the buildings. Running up beside her, he looked back into a small ally of a sort. A girl laid against a nearby wall. Her clothes where tattered, and she looked as though someone had beaten her badly. Vash walked up towards the girl, kneeling so that he could check her pulse. She was still alive, but only barely.

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know." Vash's voice was distant as he lifted the girl up into his arms. "But we can't just leave her out here like this."

Knives eyes widened with a horrified look. "You're kidding! You're not going to take her back to our place are you!" Vash ignored him. "This is ridiculous. Why can't you just drop her off at that medical place and let them take care of her?"

"Our house is closer than the medical building, and she may not last that long." Vash's voice held some irritability that told Knives not to push the matter.

Still Knives grumbled the rest of the way back to the house, an every constant glare being directed at the unconscious woman.

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Like I said going to be different. Please R&R and enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, I'm just breezing right through this. Just hope I don't lose to my writing block. Well, here's chapter 2, hope you enjoy and if the character are a little out of character, please don't be too mad.

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_**Chapter 2**_

Vash laid the girl down on the spare bed they had, waiting for Meryl to come to tend to the girl's wounds. He looked over the young girl with unease. Who could have done such horrible things to her? When Meryl began removing the girls clothes to get to the rest of her wounds, Vash left the room and went downstairs. Looking out the window, he noticed that a sand storm was approaching.

"There's something about this I just don't like."

"Vash?" The blonde turned around to look at Meryl. "Her wounds are pretty bad, but she's not in serious danger."

He gave her a skeptical look. There was just something about the hesitation in her voice. "But?"

"I think she's blind." Vash's eyes widened with surprise. "There a real pale color, almost white. I've only heard of that happening if someone was blind, or going blind."

"Oh great, so now we're going to have to take care of her like a baby I assume, right Vash?" Knives chimed in as he leaned against the wall near the kitchen door. "Are you going to give her a bath too?"

"Shut up Knives!" Vash gave a reluctant sigh. "For now all we can do is take care of her till she wakes. Until then we'll take care of her."

Knives grumbled, and walked outside into the sandstorm. Loading his gun he went to his practice range. This gun that he now called his own was an ordinary gun compared to what he was used to. It was not well perfected like his black gun was. He missed that gun. If he had that he could escape from this hellish prison. Without his gun Vash could out do him, and he would just get confined to that pathetic house.

Knives couldn't stand humans. Everything they did just pissed him off, and none pissed him off more then Meryl Stryfe, Vash's wife. Why his brother married a human was beyond him. Still, there was nothing he could do. His brother wouldn't listen to him no matter how hard he tried. Aiming his gun at his first practice target, Knives imagined Meryl being tied to it, and began to shoot.

In the house, Vash ran a towel through his wet hair. His scars where apparent across his body. If a stranger looked at him, they would be amazed that he was even still alive. His left arm he'd lost many years ago, and had been replaced with a robotic arm.

Meryl entered the room, her face slightly darker than usual. "Vash I think there may be a chance that she won't wake up. Even if she's still alive now, her wounds are pretty bad."

"All we can do is hope."

With a sigh, Meryl sat down on the bed. "You can't save the world Vash. This is the fifth time you helped some stranger. You got us a place with 2 extra rooms, and for that very purpose. I know you want to help Vash, but you can't save everyone."

Vash looked out the window at the sand storm that raged on around them. It was next to impossible to to see anything other than the sand. "I just want to help people. Is there something wrong with that?"

Mery sighed. "Is this about Wolfwood?" Vash turned pale. "It's been a year since Mr. Wolfwood died. You've got to move on with life Vash. He wouldn't want you to be like this."

Vash said nothing, and just climbed into bed.

A week pasted by, though still the girl did not wake while Meryl continued to tend to her wounds. Knives continued to taunt Vash about how he was going to have to take care of the stranger, but as time went on it seemed more like she would not be waking up any time soon.

* * *

Hinata opened her eyes slightly, her sight blurry and somewhat blinded. Her body hurt all over, though she was beginning to get used to it. She couldn't remember when she passed out, or how long it had been, but she was grateful to have been granted such a long rest. It wasn't until she started to move her head that she realized she was no longer in a dank, and dark cell, but in a small very ordinary looking room. On her right she could feel the sun beating down against her face.

On the left side of the room she could see two dressers, and a small table near her bed. One of the dressers Hinata noticed had some bandages sitting on top of it.

It took her a moment to fully realize that she was in fact laying on a comfortable bed then on the hard floor. Footsteps began ascending the stairs, and her heart skipped a beat. Looking around, she noticed her side pouch was on the nightstand next to her. How it had gotten there she wasn't sure, but reached into it for her kunia. The door opened, and in one swift movement, Vash the Stampede was in the room facing the doorway, a kunia at his throat.

A high pitched scream echoed from Meryl. "Vash!"

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I have a habit of leaving things at cliff hangers, but hopefully I will be able to keep writing so it shouldn't be too much of a delay. Please R&R.


	3. Chapter 3

Hope you enjoy

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_**Chapter 3**_

Meryl screamed in fright. "Vash!"

Vash's eyes were wide with shock. The girl was shorter than him, but she was faster than he'd thought a human could be. She had no trouble holding the kunia at his throat either. Footsteps where heard again, and Knives came bursting through the room. His eyes narrowed with dark intent as he stared at the girl who was holding his brother hostage. He was an idiot, but still he was his brother. In one quick motion his gun was out and aimed at the girls head.

"He'll drop quicker than you can attack!" the girl yelled. Knives halted, but did not lower his gun. "Don't think I won't do it! Did you really think if you gave me an opening I wouldn't take my chances escaping?"

Meryl gave a look of confusion. "What are you talking about? We brought you here cause you were unconscious on the ground."

The girl tightened her grip on her kunia. "Don't play games with me. Orrochimaru thought he'd have some one heal me before he finished his work, didn't he."

Both Knives and Meryl gave the girl a look of complete confusion. She would have seen that Vash had the same look if he wasn't facing away from her. He was, however the first to reply.

"We don't know anyone with that kind of name."

"Like I would believe that!" the girl replied as she started backing up, taking Vash with her. "If that's true than who freed me? Who got passed Orrochimaru and his men?" Why hasn't he come to get me yet?"

"This girl's crazy." Knives spat as he kept his gun level, his aim on her head.

Meryl turned on Knives in an instant. "Stop it, or she'll kill Vash!"

Vash tried to slow his mind long enough to think. A few moments ago he had been talking with Meryl, then was being threatened by this girl that he had insisted they help. Now he wondered if his kindness had perhaps been a mistake this time. Looking over at Knives, he could easily tell what his brother was thinking. If he was given a chance, he would kill her. He had to come up with something quick.

"Why don't you let me go, and we'll talk about this calmly..."

"What do you take me for? I let you go and you'll attack me the moment you have an opening."

"We don't want to hurt you." Vash insisted.

"Oh, then what do you want?"

Vash took a deep breath. "We were just trying to help. If it weren't for us you would have been stuck out in that sandstorm a week ago."

The kunia lightened up slightly. She looked out the window for the first time, a look of bewilderment on her face. She was certain when she was captured she'd been no where near the desert. Her mind began to race quickly. "How far is it from here to the Sand Village?"

Knives raised his eyebrow at the odd name. Both Vash and Meryl now held a look of bewilderment from her question.

"The Sand Village?"

The girl began to get more frustrated, her hand tightening threateningly against Vash's neck. "The Sand Village! How far from here?" The girl paused for a moment. "Just what village am I in anyway?"

"You're in a small town east of Mei City. There is no such thing as a town called the Sand Village." Vash's words where calm even for the situation. "Why would someone call a city the Sand Village if the whole planet is covered in sand?"

The girl's eyes widened with fright. Her hand shook with terror, wavering enough to give Vash his chance to move away from the blade. Turning he looked back at her, an unreadable expression present. Within moments her knees gave way and she collapsed to the floor. Her head was spinning so fast she couldn't fight off the urge to turn head sickly.

Knives never put down his gun, but watched the girl as though she were still a threat. It took quite some time before she seemed as though she was back to reality. Looking up at the three people in the room, she got a good look at them for the first time, the shorter black haired girl now standing very close to the takll man that she had previously been threatening.

The three of them dressed very strange compared to what she was used to. Well two of them did at least. The man she had been threatening was tall with a black coat covering his whole body. The shorter girl was wearing a strangely made cloak, and even what little of the outfit she wore underneath seemed a little odd. Her eyes eventually traveled to the more darker looking man. He was as tall as the other though his hair seemed to be a much lighter blonde. He was wearing a black pair of slacky pants and a short sleave green shirt which seemed just a little big on him.

When her mouth was finally able to move again, she looked at the man in the red outfit. "There is no village called Konaha?" He shook his head to confirm a no. There was a sharp pain in her heart at the thought. No more Konaha? Just where in the hell was she? How did she get here? "I think I'm gonna be sick again."

Quickly Vash grabbed a bowl and brought it to the girl. Knives' as his hand wavered slightly was yelling something about her being dangerous, but Vash didn't seem to hear him. He handed the bowl to th girl and unexpectedly with the situation, she thanked him. Meryl left the room to go and retrieve some medicine, leaving Knives to continue watching the young girl as though she was still threatening Vash.

Moments later Meryl returned with a glass of water and some medicine. Instructing the girl to take them as she handed them to her. Taking the medicine, she downed the contents of the glass quickly, her head still spinning. She didn't want to trust the information that was being presented to her, but they truly didn't seem to be out to hurt her.

"You know if you wanted to get killed then you could at least have let me know so I'm not standing here all day." No one responded to Knives grumbling so he just walked out of the room, slamming the door to his room along the way.

Vash helped the girl to stand and lead her back into bed. "You should rest more. we'll check in on you later." Turning, Vash and Meryl left the room. Stopping for a moment, Vash looked back at the girl. "What's your name by the way?"

Laying on her back, the girl looked at Vash, her eyes wide with some suprise. Still yet proving something was strange was the fact that they didn't even know her name. "It's Hinata."

Vash gave a nod and then left the room.

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Hope it's not too bad of a cliff hanger. R&R


	4. Chapter 4

Hey, I finished chapter 4. Enjoy!

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_**Chapter 4**_

Hinata awoke the next morning, her head pounding. The events of yesterday very vividly present in her memory. Slowly she got up from the bed, realizing that her original clothes had been removed and she was wearing a fresh set of clothes that probably belonged to the lady Meryl.

Grabbing her belt strap, and her pouch, she gathered her tools together and decided to venture down the stairs. It wasn't long after leaving her room that she came face to face with the light blonde haired man, Knives. Both looked at each other and in an instant her kunia was at his throat and his gun in her face.

"just where do you think you're going?" Knives demanded.

Hinata glared at him darkly, her features and messy hair giving her room to almost match the dark look present on his own face. "That's not your business, move."

Knives growled angrily. "I don't think so, not after yesterday."

The two remained at a silent stand still for several minutes, neither looking anywhere but at each other. Vash looked up as he made his way up the steps, staring at the two. They looked as though they were going to attack each other at any minute. "What's going on here Knives?"

Hinata lowered her kunia as Vash approached. She had learned yesterday that Vash and Meryl were fairly trust worthy, but Knives on the other hand was a whole different story. "Can you tell me which way to go to get something to eat?"

Vash stopped as the girl put down her weapon, Knives more slowly, but lowering no the less. "Come on down stairs, Meryl is already cooking."

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden to you."

Vash smiled brightly. "It's no trouble at all! Come on."

Ignoring Knives, Hinata and Vash moved downstairs into the kitchen. Knives did not follow, his blue eyes cold, and full of anger. She had only really be awake for a few hours, but in that short time she had already managed to piss him off more than any other human had in several years. Well with the exception of Meryl that is. Still he did not like the girl one bit, and in fact if it weren't for his brother, he would have shot her then and there. Anger fuming, Knives returned to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Meryl shuffled about in the kitchen, still working on finishing breakfast when Hinata and Vash walked in. Turning around towards the table, she jumped. "I hate it when you sneak up on me!"

Vash sat down, an awkward grin on his face. "Sorry Meryl I didn't mean too."

Hinata sat next to Vash while Meryl served them both breakfast. It was somewhat different then what she was used to, but it wasn't too bad. Her eyes glanced at Meryl a few times, noticing she seemed to be looking at her quite a bit.

"Have your eyes always looked like that?"

Hinata stopped eating for a moment, titling her head at the odd question. She had to remind herself she was not in a familar place anymore before she replied. "Yes, these are my natural eyes."

"Really? I've never seen eyes like yours before." Vash commented with amazement.

"Yes well, different tends to be useful sometimes." Hinata replied before continuing to eat.

Both Meryl and Vash seemed curious as to what she ment, but neither asked and returned to their breakfast. When Hinata had finished, she informed them that she wished to have a look around town. Meryl seemed to busy herself with the dishes while Vash simply grinned and left her to head out. Desert expanded as far as her eyes could see, much to what she'd been told the previous day. It wasn't hard to spot the rock ledge at the end of town though, it was one of the only few interesting sights around.

Knives watched from the window as the girl left the house. In his opinion, she was nothing but an annoyance. Turning away from the window, Knives picked up his gun, and took the opportunity to head out to the practice range. He was still fuming about earlier, and was grateful to have a new face to put to his targets.

While Knives was out thinking of the ways he could kill Hinata, she made her way out to the ledge at the end of the city. Looking out towards the North, she glared about at the never ending sand. In an instant veins appeared around her eyes, and they almost looked as though they could pierce through a person's soul. Her vision began to move as she stretched her sight through the desert, hoping she might find something familiar.

She had improved the distance of her sight, however, it wasn't far enough. Slowly she shifted directions all around her, but all she could find was desert. With a sigh she returned her eyes to normal and looked back at the house she had left. Truly she was in a very different world.

Still standing at the edge she sighed. Just how long had it been since she had been in Konaha? Was it seven, or eight months now? Her hair was now down to her lower back, and was more than a mess. She examined the ends carefully, and again sighed. "I need to cut this real bad." she turned to head down from the ledge. "Maybe long hair wasn't such a good idea."

Feeling defeated in many different ways, Hinata returned from the cliff and to the house. As she walked inside, she noticed that Knives seemed to be outside somewhere, and she was quite grateful for it. She didn't like the man one bit. He was rude, arrogant, and just plain over all annoying.

Finding a pair of scissors, Hinata headed upstairs and back into her room. Sitting down in front of the mirror that was attached to one of the dressers, she looked over her messy hair. The ends where split horribly and her face easily showed the darkness and horrors she'd been through in her time as Orrochimaru's prisoner.

Now cutting several clumps out of her hair, she allowed it to lay about mid way down her back before she started brushing out the tangled mess. Looking in the mirror, she smiled a little bit. Her face didn't look quite so harsh now that she seemed more well kept with her hair. Placing the brush on the dresser, Hinata cleaned up the hair cutting and threw them away. Finally done, she left the room and headed downstairs for dinner.

Unfortunately for her, it didn't seem as though it would be a pleasant trip. Knives was in the hallway heading to his room when Hinata left hers. Calmly she walked passed Knives, expecting a confrontation, but instead Knives only stared, his mouth hanging open.

Knives was in a slightly better mood when he came in, but was very much tired. When he looked at Hinata, he opened his mouth to make a rude comment, but stopped when he saw her. She had cut her hair, and looked much better than when he had first seen her. In fact, for a human she was quite beautiful. Instantaneously he slapped himself mentally and almost physically for thinking such crazy thoughts. Turning back, he retired to his room for the night.

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I think I'm having some fun with the confrontations between Hinata and Knives.


	5. Chapter 5

Yeah! Chapter 5 compete! Please enjoy, and leave reviews!

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_**Chapter 5**_

The next few days passed by fairly quickly, though for some where longer than others. Vash and Meryl continued their routines while Knives took out his anger with Hinata on his practice targets outside. The only thing that had really changed was that Hinata used Knives practice grounds to train at night so as not to have to worry about any confrontations. Diligently she practiced to regain her strength after having been chained up for so long.

It wasn't till Hinata dared to let her training last into the morning hours. She had been in the middle of trying to perfect a technique that she'd lost her balance for and typically Knives did not come out in the morning hours anyway. She had only been about twenty minutes after sunrise when oddly enough Knives decided to head out to blow off some steam. He had gotten into an early argument with Vash and just was not in the mood to wait till later. Stopping short of his usually shooting spot, he stood in amazement at Hinata's movements. She was quick, quicker then most humans he'd seen. When he snapped back to reality furry overtook him.

"What are you doing out here!" Knives yelled with anger.

Hinata stopped, and stared at Knives. She had hoped she would have at least an hour or two extra before she would have to leave, but it seemed today was not her lucky day. "I'm sorry. I'll leave." Hinata started towards the house, but was stopped by Knives, his gun pointed at her.

"No. I've had enough of this. You've been a nuisance to me since Vash found you, and it ends today." Knives advanced slightly towards Hinata, his gun hand never wavering. "I'm going to enjoy killing you human."

"My name is Hinata, and it will do you well to remember that." Hinata replied with venom. In an instant hinata had ducked, her legs shifting as she spun around and circled Knives, her kunia at his throat before he could even see her draw it.

"You!"

"I don't like to kill. It's really not my style unless it's necessary. All I want is to go back to the house. When I release you, I'm expecting you to put your gun down." Hinata loosened her grip on Knives throat very slowly.

When she had completely removed her kunia, Knives was angrier than he had ever been before, but for some strange reason he lowered his gun. His mind was still trying to comprehend what had actually happened and that she could move at such a speed. By the time his mind had caught up, Hinata had already retreated to the house, and he instantly started to curse and swear violently. Before returning to the house Knives emptied his gun at one of the closest targets he had placed.

For the rest of the night both Hinata, and Knives made it a point to avoid each other like the plague. The constant tension made both Vash and Meryl very uneasy, and certainly uncomfortable. Before heading to bed, Vash stopped at his brother's room, knocking lightly before entering though only just a step or two into the room.

"Can I talk to you Knives?"

"No."

"What did you do to Hinata?"

"I didn't do anything."

"So why are you two so tense today?"

"What does it matter?"

"I want to know."

"Maybe I don't want to tell you."

Vash stepped further into Knives' room, anger written on his face. In one quick motion Vash held his brother by his shirt. "Don't play games with me Knives."

Knives gave his brother an evil grin. "But that's not in the agreement brother. No one is dead yet."

"Yet is the key word." Vash let go of his brother's shirt. "I better not find out you did something to her."

Vash left the room, and Knives sat down on his bed fiddling with his gun. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop replaying what had happened earlier. Hinata's moves had left him in a trance. Just how did she learn to move so well? It wasn't till near morning that Knives came to a strange decision. One that truly frightened even himself.

When sunrise approached, Hinata was returning from training outside. She did not want to confront Knives again so she kept all her training to night time. When the house was in view, she stopped, a frightened look on her face as she froze. Knives was up earlier than usual, and waiting by the door. Actually, from the way he was leaning against the wall it seemed as though he'd been waiting for a while. Taking a deep breath, she continued towards the house.

Knives facial features where very much unreadable. He continued to lean against the wall until Hinata was close enough to the house. Pushing off from the wall, Knives walked the rest of the distance between him and Hinata. As they came face to face, both of them stood silently, neither sure what the other was thinking. Hinata was especially concerned since he was not acting like his normal self.

Hinata stared at Knives as he blocked her path. She was trying to keep calm, but Knives was making her incredibly nervous. Tightening her grip on her kunia, Knives drew his gun. Swiftly she countered it with her blade, shifting her feet again so that she was away from the gun's aiming direction, her kunia resting against his throat. The silence stretched, and Knives lips changed from an unreadable face to a smile. This made Hinata even more nervous than before.

"You're reaction time is impressive." Hinata did not respond to him. " How did you learn to move that fast?"

She looked at him with confusion. Knives had not yet yelled at her, nor had he made any kind of rude comments. In fact, she was almost positive he had just complimented her.

"Why are you asking?"

"I would like you to show me what else you can do."

Hinata stepped back in surprise. "What?"

Knives narrowed his eyes slightly. "I said I would like to see what else you can do."

"You're not angry at me for using you grounds?" Knives did not respond. When she was sure she was getting no where, she tried a more direct approach. "Just what is it you want?"

"I assume you want the truth?" She remained silent. With a sigh Knives continued. "Fine then. Teach me to move like that."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

Hinata's jaw hung wide open, her thoughts scrammbling to gather some form of understanding. "What.. what did you say?"

Knives growled angrily. "DO I LOOK LIKE SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO ASK FOR HELP FROM A HUMAN!" Hinata took a step back. "I'll say it only one more time. Teach me what you were doing yesterday."

"I..I...uh...well..." Hinata was trying to gather the right words while her brain seemed to have shut down on her. Cold eyed, hot tempered Knives learning taijustu, and Ninjustu didn't quite sound like a very good idea. Quickly she tried to think of an excuse to get away. Far away. In the window she could see Meryl cooking breakfast.

"Uh...you know I'm really hungry, how about I get back to you on that." Hinata hurried through the door without a second thought. Surely she must be crazy to even think of showing Knives techniques like that.

Knives remained outside for the longest time, his temper rising. He had just admitted that he wanted a human to help him. What was he thinking? His head was spinning, and his thoughts were jumbled. The only thing that came out clear was that he had asked a human for help. If it wouldn't have been for his pride, he would have puked right then and there.

Instead, however, he moved into the training grounds to practice. It wasn't until late that Knives decided to retire to his room. As he walked inside, the house seemed fairly quite, and strangely he noticed he had a bit of hope that Hinata would speak to him, but nothing of the sort occurred. He made his way up to his room without any confrontations with anyone.

Hinata was already in her own room when Knives returned to the house. Pacing towards the dresser against the wall for she thought must have been the 500th time, she turned and walked the opposite way. She was uncertain, concerned, and down right confused. She did not know what she should do. Training Knives was a very complicated issue. What if he used it to hurt others, or worse to kill them?

What if he were to become as bad as Orrochimaru? Did he even have the potential for being a ninja? Was she just paranoid? Hinata stopped for a moment, the word ringing in her mind. Could she possibly be paranoid about Knives? She shook her head violently and sighed. Knives was no kind or gentle man. He was ruthless, rude, arrogant, and down right.. good looking?

"NO WAY! I'm just not thinking right. Where's Naruto when I need him?" Hinata sat down on her bed. Just when had the thought crossed her mind that he was good looking anyway? Now she was really thinking hard. What would Naruto do if it was him? "That's easy, he'd train him. Naruto can be too gullible sometimes."

Hinata flopped down on her bed. "Ever since Naruto left to train all I've ever managed to do is get myself into trouble." She sighed heavily. "I guess one more thing couldn't really hurt, could it?"

Hinata's ability to sleep was very limited. All she could do was think about Knives, and what might happen if she trained him. For a week Hinata fought with herself, and her decision. She only left for food and drinks, and she made darn sure Knives was nowhere to be seen when she did leave.

Knives however was beginning to lose patience. He would spend almost all his time out in the practice grounds. He couldn't believe he had asked her such a thing, and now he was out here, fretting about a human's decision. Waiting for a human! Every time he shot his gun, his aim got worse and worse. He was so consumed in his thoughts that he didn't hear Vash come up behind him.

It wasn't until Vash placed his hand on Knives shoulder that he realized he wasn't alone. Knives whirled around, his gun loaded and aimed at his head. Vash reacted equally, and had his shinning silver gun pointed at his brother. Knives was the first to lower his gun.

"Was it necessary to sneak up on me like that?"

"I didn't." Knives stared at him. "Actually I was standing next to you for about five minutes."

He rolled his eyes at his own carelessness. How could he have let his own brother come up behind him like that and not even realize it.

"What's with you lately?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You haven't been yourself."

"What makes you so sure?" Knives asked grumpily.

Vash gave him an awkward glare. "You didn't even know I was here."

Knives grimaced. "It's nothing, I've just been thinking a lot lately."

"About what"

Knives turned, ready to tell his brother off when he heard the sound of someone smashing glass. Both he and Vash looked at the window that faced the training grounds, their stance a bit more alert then before. A man in a strange outfit was running out in their direction followed by Hinata.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Hinata yelled.

Both Vash and Knives moved to the side to get out of the way. Knives was the only one that aimed his gun at the man, firing with great accuracy before Vash could do anything. The masked man went down before anyone fully realized what had happened, though Vash was the first to react.

"What where you thinking!"

Knives gave his brother a dark glare. "Did you have any better ideas?"

"You killed him!" Vash yelled angrily. "You didn't have to kill him!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you wanted him to get away!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" Hinata yelled furiously. Neither Knives or Vash had been expecting her outburst as they looked at her. She was already kneeling next to the dead man, examining the piece of metal wrapped around his forehead. Standing up, Hinata looked at the two. They were watching her curiously.

"It's better this way. If he had reported back, all of us would be in a lot of danger." Hinata started towards the house. "At least this way I can keep you three out of this.


	7. Chapter 7

I think I'm starting to get an idea of what I'm doing here, so here goes chapter 7.

* * *

_**Chapter 7**_

When Hinata reached the house, she did not stop to check on Meryl, but went straight to her room. Quickly she packed what little she had, making sure her kunia where all in her pouch. She set three sets of clothes in a pile on her bed, some of what she'd found when Meryl had taken her shopping. She had a little money left from Vash who told her and Meryl to go shopping in the first place. Packing everything into a small travel bag, she left the room, closing the door behind her.

By the time she had gotten down the steps, both Vash and Knives were in the house already. Vash had gone straight to Meryl to check on her while Knives stood at the bottom of the steps waiting for Hinata. Without a word, or stopping, she walked right passed Knives, one thing on her mind. The head band she'd seen carried the symbol of the Sound Village.

Knives was at this point not in any kind of mood to be ignored, and it was quite apparent when he grabbed Hinata's wrist tightly.

"Just where the hell are you going?" Knives demanded.

"As far from here as I can." was her cold reply.

"Who was that human?"

"None of your concern."

In a rage Knives tried to toss Hinata around against the wall, but found himself in that very position. Hinata held his gaze with a dark look that told even him he didn't want to fuck with her right now. Still his pride forced him to demand more answers to the mystery that had been laid in front of him.

"What is going on?"

Hinata, however, was in no mood to be pushed. Her only goal was to get as far away as possible, and as quick as possible. Preferably before Orrochimaru arrived. She decided to give in slightly for the hope that she would not have to attack Knives to escape the house.

"That man was looking for me, and if the person he works for finds me, I'll be back in that damned dungeon for the rest of my life...whatever little I will have left."

Knives seemed to have a better idea what she was saying than she anticipated, cause he did not seem shocked nor did he release her even though he was the one pinned against the wall at the moment. Unfortunately for her, she had accidentally shared her information with more people than she wanted to. Both Vash and Meryl had entered the room when she answered Knives question.

"You're talking about the person you escaped from when we found you, right?" Vash said in a more serious tone than even his brother was familiar with. "That...Oruchamaru guy."

Hinata rolled her eyes at his pronunciation of the name. Never the less, he had hit the nail on the head. "His name is Orrochimaru, and he is one of the most dangerous people where I came from. If he finds me, there will be no second escape."

Knives scowled slightly. A human who enjoys killing, and torturing other humans. What else was new. Just another human with a big head. A dark grin started to form on his face. What he wouldn't give to put a human like that in his place. Without realizing it, he had let go of Hinata, and she was now already out the door. When Knives' came out of his thoughts, he realized Vash was in front of him with a very dark look. Neither of them spoke, and Knives acted quickly to run out the door before Vash could stop him.

Meryl was very shocked at how quickly Vash's face went from dark, to confused.

Knives hurried after hinata, following her to the edge of town where he finally caught up to her. Once he reached her, Hinata stopped and turned to face the man who had tracked her down.

"Where...where can I find this Orrochimaru?" Knives asked as he panted for breath.

"Where?" repeated Hinata. Knives had a very different look on his face then she'd seen before. It actually showed excitement.

"Yes, where can I find this human?"

"I don't know where to find him, and I don't want to either." Hinata hissed angrily. If she knew where Orrochimaru was she would have made sure there was a constant great distance between them.

Knives was deep in thought for several minutes, trying to figure out what to do. It would be more difficult to try and find him on his own, and plus this Orrochimaru would be after Hinata. An idea finally came to him.

"Then I guess I'll just have to join you."

Hinata stared at Knives with a blank look. Just what was he thinking. Was he mad? Insane? Was he...what? She was out of ideas. Nothing logical came to mind. Instead of trying to understand it, she settled for telling him no.

"I will follow you whether you like it or not. Even Vash won't be able to stop me. I know what you look like, so I'll be able to find out where you went with ease." Knives retorted with a strange calmness and confidence in his voice.

Hinata thought about this for a moment. She would be paranoid enough with Orrochimaru after her, what would it be like to have Knives following her as well? Then Vash tryiing to follow him? Hinata winced. It would be a nightmare is what it'd be. Especially if Knives went to the wrong person with her description. Orrochimaru would follow him to find her, and then Vash...

Hinata put her hand on her head. Just thinking about it was giving her a headache, but to experience the chaos that would ensue she didn't even want to consider it. sliding her fingers down slightly, she looked at Knives. This one man had brought more chaos into her life then she ever dreamed of, and it didn't even look like he was trying. And if he was, he was doing a damned good job at it.

Groaning, Hinata gave in and motioned for him to follow. Without a second thought, Knives followed. He had nothing to really take with him, except what money he had on him and his gun. Both of which he already had. Clothing he could find in another city if he needed to as well as extra bullets.

* * *

Vash, after the two had left, he had made sure Meryl was alright before heading off to find them. He had been unsure which way either of them had gone, and it was almost dark before he had figured it out. It took him nearly an hour to track down their direction, and by that point he had learned they were already long gone. Vash was not happy in the least. His brother was gone, and possibly in search of a large number of innocents to kill.

He didn't waste any time returning to the house to pack his things. He knew that he had to go after Knives and bring him back. Going into his closet, he pulled out Knives gun that he had hidden away from his brother. Chances where he was going to need both it, and his own.

When he went downstairs, Meryl was already waiting for him.

"Meryl, I want you to stay here. It's going to be too dangerous for you to follow."

Meryl glared at Vash with annoyance, her hands on her hips. "And what will I tell my boss when when he finds out the humanoid typhoon is on the loose?" She walked around the table, and grabbed her bags that she packed earlier.

Vash sighed, and started out the door, Meryl right behind him. With the house completely locked up, Meryl and Vash climbed into the car, and headed in the direction Knives and Hinata had gone. Both of them were sure that things were about to get a lot more complicated soon.


	8. Chapter 8

I think I like the way this is going now. Please send more reviews, let me know what you think. Inquiring minds would like to know. :)

* * *

_**Chapter 8**_

Traveling on a competely desert planet was a lot different than what Hinata was used to. Granted she was trained to handle the desert, and she had been to the Sand Village on several occasions, but it didn't make the journey any easier. The wind whipped in her face as she walked on towards the town in view, the man next to her seeming to have a little less trouble against the wind.

When they reached the town, their first stop was to the nearest hotel. Entering, they looked around briefly. It seemed like a decent hotel, not to fancy, but not real run down either. Lowering the hood from the cloak Hinata had bought, she went up to the desk and asked for two rooms.

"That will be $$10 double dollars."

"Ten! That's most of my money." Hinata looked through the pouch that she had put her money in and grumbled. She only had about &$16 double dollars on her.

Knives set down $$10 on the counter and held out his hand for the keys. Hinata glanced at him questioningly but didn't say anything. The elderly man behind the counter gave him two keys and Knives took both of them before making his way up to the second floor. Hinata followed, hiding a slightly embarrassing blush that was present on her face.

Turning around, he dangled one set of keys in front of Hinata and then dropped them into her awaiting hand. "I'm not sharing a room with a human." Without another word, Knives opened his door and slammed it shut.

"Hmph! If I had known you were going to be this arrogant, I might have taken my chances with you following me!" Hinata walked into her own room, flopping down on to the bed. She was very tired, and in a very irritated mood. She still wasn't entirely sure why she let Knives travel with her in the first place. "Oh, yeah .." she sighed as she recalled the nightmarish chase that would come if she hadn't. Still she was having second thoughts about her decision. Slowly her thoughts started to fade as she fell asleep.

* * *

When she awoke again, it was already late evening and she was starving. Hinata was very grateful to find that there was a small café built into the inn. Taking a seat, she ordered a small amount, enough to last her for a little while and then began to think. She had actually put herself into a tight bind. Not only was she short on money, but Knives was with her. What little they had wouldn't last long. With a sigh Hinata let her head rest on the table. It wasn't like her to make such careless mistakes; then again it wasn't like her to be chased by the most dangerous man possible.

"You look pathetic." knives said as he sat down. Hinata glared at him dangerously. The use of her kunai against him was becoming dangerously more tempting every time he opened his mouth. Knives ignored her look, laying a piece of paper on the table.

She examined the paper. It was a flier for a shooting contest. The winner receives $$10,000.

"I heard its taking place in a city about 40 iles to the east, and it's not like we have an actual destination anyway."

Hinata pondered this for a few minutes. "Just how good is your shooting?"

Knives grinned brightly. "The real question is, can you shoot, and if so, how good?"

Hinata thought for a few minutes. Was this really a good idea? She'd never fired a gun before. She looked at Knives, concern written on her face. She could already tell where this was going. Knives wouldn't just teach her for nothing. If anything he was waiting to hear her ask HIM for help. She had to admit it though, he was good at corning people. She took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Show me how to use a gun."

Knives leaned against the table bringing his face closer to hers. "Teach me what you were doing on my practice grounds."

Slowly Hinata nodded in agreement. Knives smile did not leave his face, though he did draw back into his chair away from Hinata. He was hoping he would find some way to get what he wanted, and when he saw the flier, he knew it would be the perfect opportunity. Satisfied with himself, he left the inn to find bullets for his gun.

When he returned, he not only had his bullets, but he had found a place where they could practice. After retrieving Hinata, he began his lessons on how to use a gun.

"Alright, now take the gun, and aim it at the target." Hinata did her best to aim the gun at the target, however her arm was not as steady as she would have liked. There was a lot more weight to it than a kunai, or shirukin. "When you're ready pull the trigger."

Hinata was already very uncomfortable with the gun in her hand as it was. Closing her eyes, she pulled the trigger and was unprepared for the backlash that came with it. Stumbling she fell backwards on to the ground with a hard thud. Knives sighed and put his hand on his head. This was going to be a lot tougher than he thought.

"How in the hell do you move so fast with one of these?" grumbled Hinata as she stood.

"Most people are used to holding heavy things like this." Knives took the gun from Hinata. "Plus..." He aimed at the target and fired the clip all in the same spot, the heart. "They don't close their eyes."

Hinata blushed a bright red. She hadn't been this embarrassed by her performances since she was a genin. Knives put the gun back in her hand, and she tried again. Her arms where not used to holding this kind of weight, and again her arm wavered uncontrollably.

This time, however, she forced extra chakra into her arm causing it to steady. Her eyes focused, Hinata fired the clip from the gun until it was empty. Knives stared in awe. Her aim was as perfect as his.

"How did you do that?" Knives demanded.

Hinata gave him a small smirk, and tossed the gun into his hands. "Maybe I'll teach you when you're ready."

After practice, both Knives and Hinata went to eat dinner. Gathering up their things, the two continued their travel, this time with a destination.


	9. Chapter 9

Ok, we have chapter 9. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**_Chapter 9_**

Vash pounded his fist on the trunk of the car, a piece falling down to the ground with the force. Of course it would be his luck that it would break down at a time like this. He cursed a few times as he pulled out his, and Meryl's things from the back of the vehicle. The two headed towards the city, Meryl walking beside Vash. Because of the breakdown, they were at least two hours behind Knives, maybe more.

By the time they got to the city, both of them were too tired to continue. They stopped at the nearest inn and spent the night resting. When morning came, Vash was up and out around the city, asking people if they'd seen Knives and Hinata. By nightfall that day, Vash had learned that they had been at a targeting range, and that Knives had been showing Hinata how to use a gun. But why?

Vash fiddled with his food while he tried to piece together the new puzzle. Why would Knives of all people show her how to use a gun? Why would he show anyone anything for that matter? There had to be a connection.

"You're food is going to get cold." Meryl scolded.

"Oh. Sorry."

"You're working too hard. We'll find them."

"We don't know which way to go next."

"Hey. You looking for that couple that was here a few hours ago?"

Vash jumped up out of his seat. "You know them?"

"The guy with white blonde hair, and the girl with black hair, right?" Vash nodded. "Yeah, they stayed here for a few hours. That guy seemed overly interested in the shootout next week."

"Shoot out?"

The guy behind the counter pulled out a flier. "Yep, there's going to be a lot of people up there."

Vash smiled hopefully. "Thanks a lot!"

* * *

Hinata and Knives arrived in the city about three days before the shootout. Finding an inn wasn't too easy with all the people there for the event, but once they got in, they went to practice. Hinata had been fiddling with Knives gun while they were traveling much to Knives dismay. Still he had to admit he was somewhat impressed at how well she had gotten since the first time she tried to use it.

"You're quicker than before, and you haven't shot at anything since we left town a few days ago." Knives shot her a glare as though this fact was more than a large annoyance.

"I just needed to adjust to the weight."

Knives gave her a look. "It's a whole different story when you have someone shooting back at you." He grabbed one of the practice guns that he had picked up on his way in. It was an open area, but designed more so for simple practice. "Come, fight me."

Hinata gave him a hesitating look. "Sorry, I think i missed something..."

"You didn't miss anything. You can handle yourself with a stationary target; now let's see what you can do with a moving one."

"But what if I hit you?" Hinata retorted with concern.

Knives gave a very smug smile. "Do you really think you can?"

Through the next two days, both Hinata and Knives practiced continuously between each other. Both of them were very fast, and neither made an easy target either. By the end of the second day, both of them had scrapes and bruises as well as a few scratches, but where not really injured. Their accuracy had, however seemed to have improved greatly. Knives' pride would not allow him to believe it, but even his 'perfect' aim had improved with the training.

During their training, neither of them noticed Vash and Meryl make their way into the city. Vash knew it would be difficult to find Knives right now, so they set up a room in an inn and waited for the shootout. Unbeknown to the city, a a great clash would be coming in the next couple days.

The third day passed quietly without any problems, but when dawn the fourth day arrived, the streets where crowded, people gathering for the shootout. The sign in area was packed, and there were many contestants from great distances who had come to compete.

Vash was one of the last people to sign into the contest that morning, but was the most recognized. He had signed his name 'Vash the Stampede.'

Meryl followed him till they took a seat where they could relax. "Do you really think that was a good idea?"

"I want him to know I'm here." Vash replied in a very serious tone. "If I'm lucky he'll try to leave, and I can catch him outside the city."

"And if he doesn't?"

Vash did not answer.

Once the roster was complete, Knives went to look at the names of his opponents. He had over heard one of the gunman say that Vash the Stampede had entered into the contest. In only took him a minute to find the name, and a smile formed on his face. Either some fool had signed in as his brother which he'd take great pleasure in defeating, or he would get his chance to go face to face with his dear brother.

Eithe way, Knives figured he'd enjoy himself. On his way back, Hinata came up to him, pulling him aside. She had a very stern look on her face, and he didn't like it.

"I know what you're thinking Knives." Hinata didn't wait for him to answer. "You won't mind killing a few people around here, but I will." Knives looked at her with a blank expression. He didn't like where this was going. "You kill anyone here, and I will refuse to train you, no matter what arrangements we made. Also I will leave you behind on top of that."

Hinata turned to leave when Knives grabbed her by the wrist, a strange expression on his face. "You know, that's really not wise for you to be doing my job. I'm the one who's supposed to be sadistic around here."

Hinata grinned. "I guess you'll just have to share."

Knives stared at her back as she walked off, an annoyed look on his face. "What did I get myself into?"

* * *

Hehe :)


	10. Chapter 10

Ok folks, here's chapter 10. Don't know how well I did, and I hope it turned out alright. Please review and let me know how I did. Enjoy!

* * *

_**Chapter 10**_

The shooting contest was a three day event. During the first day, the contestants would shoot bottles from three different distances. Many of the contestants failed at the longest shots, though several made it to the second round. Vash and Knives, however, passed that part with ease. When it came time for Hinata, she felt herself become nervous.

"You'll miss like that." Knives warned her.

Hinata scowled at him. "I know that."

Running, she quickly went into the designated area and took a deep breath. First step was to aim, and then add chakra. One by one the bottles dropped. Vash watched, his glasses covering his distant and concerned look. In four quick shots all the bottles dropped from their perch. Knives leaned back in his chair, smiling in the distance. Once again he felt satisfied with himself and his work.

Vash watched each of Hinata's shots carefully and with great interest. Knives had most definately been teaching her how to use a gun, but the real question was why? Sure there was the contest, but why would he need her to enter in the first place? What purpose did it serve to him to teach her anything?

"Vash, we should get out of here, they aren't going to need you till tomorrow." Vash didn't get up. He just sat there with a handful of stones in his hand. "Vash, it's just bottles right now, you don't need to worry."

With a light sigh, Vash got up, the stones dropping from his hand as he headed back to the inn.

"You look a little lost there, Vash the Stampede." a cold voice called from a side alley.

Vash turned his head to the side, staring at his brother who was obviously having quite a bit of fun. "Decided to make this easier on me Knives?"

"Easy on you? Now Vash, why would I do a thing like that?" Slowly Knives walked over towards his brother. Vash pulled his gun out, aiming it at Knives. He stopped. "Are you going to shoot Vash? Right here? With all these innocent people around?"

"I'm not letting you escape."

"Escape? No, no dear brother. You're going to just...leave me alone." Knives said while his smile grew wider. "You see, it's going to be you and me in the finals, and when I win, you're going to agree to just leave me alone."

"What makes you think that?"

Knives walked directly in front of Vash's gun, the barrel at his head. "Cause if you don't, I'm going to destroy this entire city along with you and Meryl." Vash remained silent. "Or did you forget Vash, you brought me my gun."

Knives moved around the gun and headed down the street towards the inn where he was staying. After a minute or two, Vash lowered his gun. With a scowl on his face, both he and Meryl retired to their room to rest.

Hinata was late to return to the inn, and when she did, she found Knives waiting for her in her room.

"How did you get in here?"

"You're late. What were you doing?"

"None of your business."

Knives looked at her with a strange grin. "You were up to something to be out this late."

Hinata moved towards her bed. "What are you all of a sudden, my father?"

Knives laughed. "Did you want me to be?" Hinata glared at him then turned away, refusing to comment, but instead sat down to brush her hair. "You should rest. You will need it tomorrow."

Without another word Knives left her room, and return to his own. Hinata put down her brush, and laid on her bed. "What is with him? He's so...so..." Hinata rolled over to face the window. "Hm ... he's annoying that's what he is. He's arrogant, rude, vile, disturbed, cruel." She closed her eyes and scowled. "There just aren't enough words to describe him."

After a short time Hinata finally fell asleep. Knives on the other hand, was wide awake. He was anxious about the finals. This time he would win against his softhearted brother and be free to do as he pleased. "I may not have my gun now, but just you wait till the finals brother."

When morning came, the contestants gathered again. This time five bottles were tossed into the air, and they had to shoot moving target from a decent distance. Once again, Vash, and Knives proved their skills to be some of the best. Hinata on the other hand, had a little trouble. Returning to her seat, she sighed.

"You're still slow." Knives pointed out.

Hinata grumbled. "I can't wait to say that to you when you start learning from me."

Knives glared at her darkly, his eyes deadly. "I'm perfect, and so I won't be slow."

A strange and slightly twisted smile formed on Hinata's face. "We will see about that, Knives."

With a simple grunt, Knives stood, and headed back to the inn. He walked slowly up the stairs, and entered his room. Hinata had learned all too quickly how to piss him off. It took him a moment too long to realize someone was in his room. That someone had a silver gun pointed at Knives head.


	11. Chapter 11

Alright here's another chap

* * *

_**Chapter 11**_

Knives eyes wandered past the silver gun that was aimed at him, and stared at his brother, Vash the stampede. His glasses covered his dark and serious eyes, though it didn't stop a smirk from forming across Knives lips.

"Come to kill me?"

"I'm not letting you do whatever you please Knives."

"So you will endanger the lives of all these humans?" Vash did not respond, or acknowledge that Knives had even spoken. With a sigh, Knives walked over towards his bed, Vash's gun following his every move. "Go ahead and shoot. I don't mind fighting here."

"I don't want it to come down to a fight. I just want to go home." Vash said calmly.

Knives turned to face his brother. "Then go home."

"I'm not leaving without taking you with me."

"I have no intention of returning to that prison."

"I won't leave you out here to hurt more people."

Knives looked at his brother with a strange face. "Who says I would hurt them?"

Vash scoffed at his comment. "I should believe you changed?"

"I never said I changed." Knives began to walk towards his brother. "I'm not going back. You can start a fight here, and people will die, or we can settle this tomorrow in the finals. It's your pick."

Vash lowered his gun. "You won't hurt anyone?"

"During the finals, no. It's a match, just you and me." Knives stood face to face with Vash. "Don't you trust me?"

Vash began to move towards the door then stopped. "I have no reason to trust you."

Knives smiled. "As it should be."

Vash opened the door and began down the hall. Hinata stopped when she saw him heading towards her. She was nervous and unsure what to do. What if he was mad at her for letting Knives follow her? What if he demanded she help him take Knives back? Continuing to walk towards her room, Hinata prayed he would say nothing to her.

To her dismay Vash did not leave her alone, but grabbed her by the wrist. His face was grim, and it did not suit him at all.

"Be careful around him. He's more dangerous than you realize." letting go of her wrist he started down the steps. "He'll stab you in the back if you give him the chance."

Hinata stared at Vash's retreating back, his words resounding in her mind. Was she being too careless? Closing her door Hinata pondered what he had told her. She had never bothered to get the whole story between the two of them, but she could easily see that they had major differences on life itself.

Sleep did not come easily to Hinata that night. The next day troubled her greatly and she was overwhelmed with a feeling of dread over it. She awoke with a scream late that night from a terrifying nightmare. Orrochimaru had arrived at the shootout event and had killed everyone. Knives, Meryl, and Vash had laid dead in front of her while he laughed at her helplessness at stopping him.

She was completely covered in sweat, and dazed when she came to the realization that someone else was in the room with her. Knives had barged in, his gun in hand. He was looking at her, an expression she couldn't quite make out. Perhaps it was concern or just annoyance but she wasn't sure. It did appear to her though that he had been hoping to get a chance to shoot somebody and only had found her instead.

"I'm ok, just a dumb dream." Her voice was not fully under control, and it was evident by the look he presented her with.

"Doesn't seem like just a DUMB dream."

"It's nothing to worry about." Hinata shot out.

Knives shrugged, and turned to return to his room. "If you say so."

Hinata got up to shut her door and then turned and put her hand on her forehead. "Just great. This is exactly what I need. I'll never survive the shootout like this." Looking in the mirror, she scowled at the messy appearance. "I really need to figure out what I'm doing before I drive myself crazy."

Without anymore thought, Hinata plopped down on her bed and allowed herself to be engulfed by sleep. This time no more dreams came, but she did not get decent sleep because of it. Morning came far too quickly in her opinion, but got up and dressed quickly. Heading downstairs, she sat down for breakfast. She couldn't help thinking how much she really didn't want to be part of this competition.

"Drop out." came a cold voice.

Hinata turned to look at Knives. "What?"

"I said to drop out." Knives repeated. "This match ends with me and Vash, there's no need for you to continue. I'll win against him and acquire the money we need."

Hinata frowned. "Who said I didn't want to face him?" Knives did not reply. This made her even angrier. "I'm not dropping out."

"Suit yourself. I was only giving advice." Knives started towards the door. "Besides, you don't look rested enough to make it very far."

Hinata crossed her arms. Just when in the heck did he start caring whether she was well rested or not. And when did HE start giving advice to a human? Finishing off her food, Hinata grabbed her things and went out to the shoot out to sign in for the day. Like hell he was doing things his way while she was around.

This time around it was person against person, and the competition had dropped immensely. There were only about 12 people left including her, Vash, and Knives. The first three bouts went quick. Hinata started to wonder about it though. Their aim was true, but their bullets weren't. It wasn't till after Knives turn up that she caught it. A stone thrust against the bullet.

It wasn't till the next match that she was able to trace the direction of the stone. It was coming from Vash. She watched him with new found interest. He looked peaceful and carefree, but yet, he was catching everything that happened. His speed and reaction time were quite amazing. She made a mental note to bring that up to him if she ever got the chance.

Hinata had been so wrapped up in watching Vash that she did not hear Knives come up behind her. "Why is it you're so fascinated with my brother?"

HInata's eyes opened wide. She turned to watch the current match. "I'm not."

"Liar." She scowled, and Knives just shrugged it off. "You would be better off to concentrate on your own problems."

Standing, Hinata grabbed the gun and walked towards the field. Her opponent was a skinny man, with black hair. He looked easy enough. Her eyes glanced over at Vash. If her aim was bad at least she knew she wouldn't kill him. She aimed her gun at the man, and then cursed.

He was fast; A little too fast. She moved her gun to the left and fired. She missed again. Moving away, she cursed once more. It was almost the same as being in a battle like so many of her previous ones, but she wasn't quite as quick as she would have preferred. Bullets whizzed by her as she moved to dodge them.

This time Vash was the one watching her with interest. Her speed with the gun was slow, but everything else was much faster then even he would have imagined. He watched as she dodged the bullets till she had an opening then fired her own gun. He sighed with relief as the skinny man fell to the ground, kneeling as he held his wound.

Returning to her seat, Hinata took a deep breath. She had made it through that obstacle, but how bad would the next one be? Knives came to sit next to her, a large smile across his face. It didn't take long until there were only four people remaining; Knives, Vash, Hinata, and a strange man who had passed through the trials without even a scratch.

The next match was about to begin, and the two men started towards the field. Knives had a grin on his face, while the other man remained indifferent.

"You might want to back out, I'm going to win." Knives boasted.

The man looked up with brown eyes. "I'm afraid I can't do that. I'm looking to get a good $$60 billion out of this here competition."

Knives smile left his face. In one swift motion, both men drew their guns.


	12. Chapter 12

chapter 12! Yay! Hope it's good. Enjoy everyone! R&R

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_**Chapter 12**_

Hinata sat on her chai, her eyes never leaving the fight. Knives was quicker than he had been when they first started. Even still, his opponent was almost as fast. There was something strange about him. His moves where soft, and quick almost the way a ninja would move. His face was covered by a piece of cloth but even so, she felt as though she had met this guy before.

Vash was intently watching the fight, concern rising in his mind. Just when had knives become that fast? He followed the fight as best as he could, never letting his eyes trail away from his brother.

Knives moved his gun to fire at his opponent, but no matter how many times he fired, the guy just kept dodging them. Rage began to engulf him; He was being out done by a human. This was not acceptable. With determination on his face, Knives began to run straight towards his opponent, swerving only to dodge the on coming bullets.

Hinata's mouth dropped at what he was doing. Knives was running straight at the man, getting up into his face, and then with a swift spin, he moved to the right and circled around his opponent in a similar fashion to what she had done to him a couple of times. Before his opponent could catch him, Knives was already behind him, and a bullet was now lodged in his leg. Knives didn't stop though. He moved again, and a second bullet was in his opponent's gun shoulder. The man quickly dropped to the ground in defeat.

Vash sat back in his seat. The fight had worried him, but now seeing how his brother moved was making him even more nervous. It took him a moment to realize that he had forgotten to monitor the battle, and that Knives had intentionally only harmed his opponent but had not killed him. He closed his eyes in thought and then opened them again. Could Knives have actually changed?

Hinata sat back in her chair, a smile creasing her lips. Knives had behaved very well during the shootout. So far no one had died, though it wasn't over yet. Her smile soon faded when she remembered she had to face Knives' brother in the next match. Her stomach began to churn at the idea. If she won, Knives would be angry. If she dropped out she would be angry at herself.

"You're making me wait." She turned her head to look at Knives. "Hurry up and drop out so I can fight my brother."

Hinata stood; a dark look on her face. "I'm not dropping out." Knives stared at her. "I'm at least going to face him."

Knives stared at her retreating back, a smile slowly forming on his face. "Don't disappoint me. I want to enjoy watching this show."

Hinata stepped out in to the open, only a few feet between her and her opponent. Vash looked very serious, and once again she told herself that he just did not look right with such an expression. He'd changed since they left and it made her wonder why he was acting in such a way. There were still people watching, their attention seeming to be more focused on the fact that Vash the Stampede being present. She noticed some of them did look a bit scared.

"They are thinking about whether they want to kill me when I'm finished here." Hinata looked back at Vash. "The $$60 billion tends to have an effect on most people."

"That's most people. Not me."

"Then why are you still here. Why not just drop out?" Vash called over.

Hinata shrugged. "I don't like to quit. I did that too much when I was younger. I want to see how good you are."

Vash put his hand on his gun. "I'm not going to hold back."

HInata placed her own hand on her gun. "Good. It wouldn't be too fair to me."

Vash was the first one to draw and fire his gun. Hinata simply shifted to the right. For a time all she did was dodge his attacks. Her moves were gentle, and well connected. Vash wondered if she was really going to take things seriously at all. As if to answer his question she drew her gun and aimed it at him.

The battle was becoming intense, neither was hitting the other. Knives seemed in a trance by the entire battle. He wondered how it would end as he remember back to his training with her. Both Vash and Hinata where moving at an equal speed, neither managing to hit the other. No matter what tricks they tried, the result was the same.

It took Knives several minutes to notice something odd. Even though Hinata's movements where verey well connected and smooth, they were slower then normal. She wasn't actually trying to win! Knives cursed under his breath and began to monitor the fight more closely. What could she be thinking?

Vash was a little more concerned about the fight at hand to notice she was moving slower. His shots where missing her every tiime. His mind was in a frantic mess as he tried to come up with a plan. He needed an advantage; some way that he could catch her off guard. Hs mind settled on one final option, but when he did it was too late. Hinata's bullet hit him and he fell to the ground.

Hinata froze with a look of horror on her face. He had dodged all her other shots, why was this one any different? She didn't want to actually win, but she did want to see what his skills where like compared to Knives. Her mind was in a panic. What would Knives do to her now? Slowly she walked closer in hopes that she had not wounded him too badly.

Her mind was racing so hard that she didn't register Vash starting to get up until she heard the shot that sounded from under him. Before her brain could catch up with what he had done, she was consumed by overwhelming pain in her left arm. Reaching up with her hand, she touched the wound lightly. Unlike his brother who preferred direct approaches, Vash was a little more knowledgeable, or perhaps preferenced to trickery.

A bright smile danced across Hinata's face. Vash, however, held his ground firmly. "I guess I got what i deserved for fooling around in a battle."

Vash looked at her with confusion while she began to walk off of the field. He wasn't expecting her to just give up so quickly. He walked back to where Meryl was sitting and reloaded his gun. The next fight was going to be a lot different.

Knives had been sitting with such a tense pose that it took him a few moments to be able to relax back against his chair. When Vash had gone down, he was almost sure she had hit him. His mind had been racing almost as fast as Hinata's that he too was shocked when Vash stood moments later, not a wound in sight. His eyes drifted to Hinata as she returned to her chair and noticed she did not bother to wrap up the wound. Knives looked at her with a slight bit of concern then stood.

Drawing his gun, he made sure it was all reloaded properly before moving towards the field to meet his brother. Both men stared at each other, their guns already aimed and ready to fire. Things were now more unbelievably tense, but more so between the two facing opponents. Knives smiled, but Vash did not.

"I'm taking my gun back today brother."

"Not if I can help it."

Knives eyes narrowed to slits. "Today I pay you back for the defeat a year ago."


	13. Chapter 13

Ok, here's chapter 13. Please enjoy, and leave a review.

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_**Chapter 13**_

The monet seemed to be in slow motion as the two stood, their guns aimed at each other. In a flash the slow motioned ended, the two firing rapidly at the other while dodging. The speed was incredible and yet neither one was taking any damage from the other. The battle continued, but the only damage that was really inflicted were some scrapes and bruises from rolling around and dodging attacks. Though neither had any wounds at first, the battle had only started.

The two found themselfs hiding behind some large slabs of metal that had been placed on the field to be used as a barricade for attacks. It wasn't long till both men found themselves wounded though the battle did not easily cease. Vash hid behind one of the large slabs of metal, blood dripping from a wound on his arm. He cursed as he tried to reload his gun. Things were not going the way he had been hoping.

Knives was also having some of his own troubles. His left side was bleeding and his left arm had been grazed as well. Both men panted heavily as they glanced around the sides of the slabs, making a few shots here and there from behind their safe spots.

Hinata lifted her hand up, bitting on it slightly as she watched Knives with worry. He was impressive, the question now was would he hold true to her rule when it came down to his brother. She didn't know who would be the one to win, but she kept her eyes on Knives. Glancing briefly to where Vash had been sitting before, she saw Meryl who was no sitting his Vash's seat. Her eyes were locked on the fight, fear written across her face.

"Give up Knives!" Vash yelled from behind the metal slab.

Knives chuckled slightly. "Not a chance. I haven't even gotten my gun back yet."

Knives ran out from around the metal slab, his gun firing at the other. Vash rolled out from the other side, both guns now firing at one another. Knives narrowed his eyes, an opportunity at hand, he tried to circle around Vash, but he didn't give him the chance. Knives cursed and backed off slightly. He wasn't about to give up yet.

Hinata continued to watch, a look of amazement at the fight. Knives slid in the sand, his gun shooting until Vash's was knocked from his hand. In an instant, Knives had a gun to Vash's head. In his opposite hand, he held another gun; A large black gun that looked a lot like the one Vash kept. She sighed heavily and sat back a bit. Knives had cut that chance a little too close.

Knives fiddled with the gun he had missed for so long; His eyes never leaving Vash. He chanced a look at his gun. "It's empty." A chuckle escaped as he grinned at Vash. "You were prepared for this." He didn't respond. "But I was also prepared."

Knives spun the gun into the holster, the other still aimed at Vash and pulled the trigger. Vash dodged the attack, but did not manage to get completely out of the way. The bullet nailed him in his left leg, causing him to slide against the ground. Knives did not lower his gun, a dark smile forming on his face as he got closer to Vash.

Hinata now stood, a look of horror and concern on her face. If Vash had not been able to react quick enough he would have been dead. her heart began to pound heavily. Would he stop? Would he let him live? Should she step in? Her mind was torn. She did not want to interfere with the matter, especially since she knew very little of the two, but she did not want to see him kill Vash either.

Knives was now hovering over Vash and seemed more then pleased with himself. He held his gun steady at his brother's head. "Now it's over Vash."

Neither of them moved. Seconds seemed like minutes, and perhaps even like hours. Vash stared at his brother, waiting for the final shot, and then his face turned to one of shock. Knives lowered his gun. His dark smile seemed to change into a pleasant one, or well as pleasant as someone like Knives could have. He started to walk off of the field and headed towards Hinata.

"Knives?" Vash called.

Knives stopped, but he never turned around. "I have no need to kill you. I got what I wanted, and I proved that your defeat a year ago was just a moment of luck." He continued to walk away from Vash.

Knives, as he continued towards Hinata, a scowl started to form on his face. She was smiling, and to him it looked very strange. Somehow he knew he would never get to live this day down for the rest of his life. Walking past her he went to the man at the registry to get their money.

Meryl had already gone to Vash and helped him up. They were quite quick to head back to the hotel before any more trouble got stirred. It was a surprise to him that they made it that far. No one had tried to come after him for the bounty though he wondered if it had to do with the fact that Knives defeated him as he did. Once Meryl had wrapped his wounds, he sat in his room thinking. Knives, who boasted how much he wanted to kill him, had instead spared his life and walking away from a perfect opportunity.

Knives returned with the money, and both he and Hinata returned to the hotel. Before returning to her room, Hinata grabbed a very large and delicious meal. Though she felt more relaxed, she was unable to sleep and decided instead to go into the town.

It was a fairly small town when there wasn't such a large crowd like earlier in the day. As she went past a few clothing stores, she realized that they didn't really have the kind of clothing she preferred. A grin crossed her face when she found that they had a small shop for specific materials. Hinata walked in and looked around. They didn't have a whole lot to offer, but she did find some light blue material which she liked.

After her shopping was done, she returned to the hotel and walked into her room; then froze. Knives was waiting for her.

"Must you come into my room like this?"

"What is all that?"

"Why do you always avoid my questions?"

Knives shrugged. "Cause I don't want to answer them."

Hinata put her things down on the bed. "What do you want anyway?"

"I bought a car. I figured it would be faster."

Hinata sighed. "Am I to take it you're ready to move on?"

Knives shrugged again. "There's nothing better to do around here."

Hinata thought about it for a minute. They had been here for a few days and she didn't want to be staying in one place for too long anyway. She looked over at Knives as he was sitting in a chair that was in her room, examining his gun. It was almost as if he expected there to have been some kind of damage to it, but he couldn't find it.

"We'll leave in an hour. You should probably tell Vash."

Knives gave her a questioning look. "Why?"

Hinata glared at him. "You settled things didn't you?" He ignored her. "If it's settled then get over it and move on. He's your brother."

"It's not like he needs to know what I do." Knives retorted calmly.

Hinata threw up her hands. "Whatever. I'm going to change, so get out."

Knives gave her a strange look, but did not move.

She walked towards the door as her anger started to flare. She threw the door open and started to speak, but was cut off by a bang that came with the door. A second later there was a yell. Hinata rounded the corner to see what had happened. Immediately she gave a curse.

Vash was lying on the floor.


	14. Chapter 14

Hey I got chapter 14 done! Go me! Enjoy!

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_**Chapter 14**_

"Vash are you alright?"

"I'm...I'm alright." Slowly he started to stand up. "Nothing's broken."

Knives stepped out of the room and looked at his brother. "You really are pathetic."

Vash put his hand on his head and started to laugh. "Actually I was hoping I could talk with you Knives."

Knives gave him a questioning look. "Why?"

"Please...?"

Knives groaned. "Come on."

Stepping out of Hinata's room, Knives went to his own room, Vash following. Before he went into the room, Vash turned and winked at Hinata. Feeling a little better, she went back into her room and pulled out the sewing equipment she'd bought with the material. The shirt she was ewaring was ok, but it wasn't quite to her liking. It was a grey shirt that was slightly big on her, but not by much.

Once the door had closed, Knives took a set on his bed and fiddled with his now loaded gun. "What do you want Vash?"

Vash sat in a chair closer to the door. "Why didn't you kill me?"

"I already answered that."

"Not with the truth."

Knives stared at his brother. He was calm, but his eyes showed all the confusion that was driving him to ask his questions. "I just didn't feel like."

Vash glared at him. "That's not the truth."

Knives began to get angry. "So then, if that's not the truth, then what is Vash?" Knives stood up to get in his brother's face. "Why don't you tell me what the truth is? You think you know me so well. You think that cause of the past you know what my future will hold."

Vash just stared. He wasn't expecting his brother to act like this.

"You don't know me Vash. You don't know anything about me." Knives turned, and started back towards his bed. "I felt like doing something a little different, that's all." He cocked his head towards his brother. "Or is that a crime now?"

Vash just sat there stunned. He had never seen his brother act this way. Knives was always rude, or unwilling to talk. He didn't know him to be any different.

It only took a few minutes before Knives got agitated with the silence. "I'm leaving in about an hour. You're not stopping me." Knives paused. "Just leave me alone Vash. I don't want to be around you."

Without any words Vash got up and left the room. When the door was shut Knives sighed with relief. He didn't like how Vash just assumed how he would act. At first when they were little they used to be inseparable. Then Rem came along. After that Vash started just clinging to her. He never worried about how Knives felt.

Knives sat on his bed and looked out the window. Ever since he had sent the ships to this planet so long ago, Vash just got more and more distant. He never took the time to understand.

"If you didn't give a shit then, then why change now." Knives muttered to himself.

An hour passed, and Knives left his room with all his belongings. Hinata was already checking them out of the hotel when he came down.

"So where's this car?"

Knives guided her to the small car in front of the hotel. It wasn't anything special, and in fact she noted it was kinda small. They tossed there things in back, and Hinata looked at the front seats. She felt very awkward.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I have no idea how to use something like this."

"You can't drive?"

Hinata glared at him. "How can I learn if they don't exist?"

Knives looked at her for a moment. It hadn't even occurred to him that some of the stuff they had wasn't around where she had come from.

He sighed and sat down in the driver's seat. "I'll drive."

Hinata climbed in next to him, and with a rawr the car came to life and they headed off.

"So where are we going?" Knives inquired.

"We don't have a destination this time, so..." She looked around. "Let's go in that direction."

Vash did not wait to say goodbye to Hinata, or Knives. He sat up in his room thinking; His brother's words kept repeating in his mind. It was true that he didn't know his brother very well. He had tried though. He always wanted to understand. Now he was sure that he knew Knives a lot less than he had thought.

"Sulking isn't going to do you any good." Meryl stated from the doorway. She walked in and handed him some food from downstairs.

"He didn't kill me." Vash said sadly.

Meryl glared at him. "And that's a bad thing?"

"I don't know him at all. No. I never knew him to begin with."

Meryl sighed. "So then why are you sitting here?" he looked up at her. "Go after him."

"He doesn't want anything to do with me."

Meryl started to get angry. "Fine. Stay up here and sulk. Let Knives do whatever he wants." She started towards the door. "He'll get away and then you'll never find him."

She slammed the door shut behind her. Vash sat there for a while. She was right, but then again it wasn't quite that simple. He needed time to think.

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:)


	15. Chapter 15

Hey chapter 15. Hope you like

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_**Chapter 15**_

After they set off, it was three days until they made it to the next town. Parking the car, Hinata and Knives climbed out of the car, their guns drawn as they noticed that it seemed to be completely deserted. The streets where bare and there was no form of noise aside from the winds.

Knives gripped his large black gun tightly. He had gone back to using it after he got it back from Vash and had given Hinata the gun he had previously owned which she had in her hand.

"It's been deserted." Knives said calmly.

"What should we do?"

Knives looked out to the west in the direction they had just come from. A sand storm was starting, and it looked pretty bad too. He looked at Hinata and then around at the buildings. Everything seemed so obviously empty; A little too empty.

"We find a place to stay. It will be a problem if the sandstorm catches up to us while we're traveling."

Nodding, Hinata moved to the nearest inn that they could find and looked around the room. It was just as empty as the rest of the town. Hinata was becoming even more concerned than ever before. Who would just up and leave a town? And why? Stepping into the street, she summonded her Byakugan. Her eyes wandered into every building, searching as far as she could. There was no sign of life anywhere. Her eyes wandered till she came back to where Knives was, behind her.

"Nothing; there is no one in the entire city right now."

Knives shrugged. "Just means we don't have to pay for anything we pick up then."

Both of them walked into the inn and unpacked their belongings. Knives had remained in his room to polish his gun for perhaps at least the third time since getting it back. After about a half hour, he left his room to see what he could find for food. Stopping at the foot of the steps, he froze. Hinata had moved all of the chairs, tables, and anything else that was in the way to a corner of the room.

"I'll put them back when we leave."

Knives gave her a curious look. "Why did you move them?"

"Training." Knives stared at her. Hinata got the hint quickly that he was not satisfied with that answer. "Your training."

She finished moving a few more chairs, and then motioned for him to join her in the center of the room.

"First things first, and that's the basics." Hinata stated calmly. When Knives did not answer, she held her arm up in front of her, a kunai in her hand. "Step one. Weaponry. This is a kunai. It is the primary weapon most ninja use in close combat. It's a lot different than using a gun."

"Why is that?" Knives inquired.

"With a gun you can move it as fast as you can, but the bullet's speed is limited. You must wait on its speed to catch up, and for most is fairly easy to dodge. Also you have to manage with a good bit of distance using such long range weaponry. The kunai is different. It is an extension of your arm. There is no waiting on anything. Your kunai moves only as fast as your arm can move." Knives just listened. "The real basic thing to remember is that if your kunai is not fast enough, or misses, it's not the kunai's fault. It is the person wielding it. If something is going wrong you cannot blame it on the weaponry. It is you."

Knives anger started to boil. Just where was she going with this? She didn't wait for him to respond though. She lowered her arm and continued on.

"Next point; Taijutsu, Also known as hand to hand combat. This will be a bit more difficult for you because the only thing I can teach you is gentle fist style." Knives raised his eyebrows as though to be demanding an explanation. "Gentle fist style belongs to the Hyuuga clan; my clan. However, you cannot draw it's full power out if I teach you. Gentle fist relies heavily on the Hyuuga's eyes, which is a natural born trait."

Knives thought about this. "Ok, so I don't have the eyes; so what?"

Hinata felt a tug on her patience. "A hyuuga's eyes give them an ability that others do not have. For example, it can show me where your chakra or pressure points are located at on your body. You would have to study hard, and guess. I could hit with full accuracy."

Knives folded his arms. "I can still learn the fighting part."

Hinata smiled. "That you can. Knowing, however, is only half the battle. If you don't know your weaknesses you can't compensate; If you can't compensate you can't defend yourself as well."

"I won't need to defend myself."

Hinata's anger burst and she ran straight at Knives. Before he could catch up to her movements, she already had one of his arms locked behind his back and the kunai at the side of his throat. knives looked up at her to see a very deadly look on her face.

"Never assume you are the best. Always assume there is someone out there better than you." Hinata let go of Knives arm and withdrew the kunai. "If you assume you are the best, it will get you killed. Know your strengths. Know your weaknesses. Know yourself. Until you master that you will remain one of the weakest."

Knives stood and stared at Hinata. He wasn't too sure he was going to like her training him. He was still deep in thought when it occurred to him that she was actually quite wise for a human. Neither of them moved for a long time, the silence stretching on. Hinata finally broke the silence, somewhat frustrated.

"That is all I'm teaching you for today. Think over what I said. When you're sure you're ready, come talk to me." Hinata turned around and headed up the steps. After the shootout she had thought that Knives was ready to learn from her, but now she wasn't so sure. He was too greedy. "He reminds me too much of Orrochimaru."


	16. Chapter 16

Knives has begun training hm ... now what to do? Guess you all will have to find out :P

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_**Chapter 16**_

Sunrise came quite quickly, though not silently. through the night the sandstorm had hit the town with a violent force. Knives had spent the entire night thinking and he did not like having to admit that there would be someone who could beat him. It drove him crazy that Hinata could out maneuver him so easily. If there really where people stronger than Hinata then he would need to become even stronger as well. And for that he needed Hinata.

With a sigh Knives left his room and headed over to her room. He opened the door, and then stopped. Her room was empty cept for the various sewing materials that littered the floor. Softly he moved down the steps and rounded the corner into the room that had been made into the new training area, stopping as he saw that Hinata was already there.

Taking a step back, Knives watched as she trained alone. It was strange to see her training the way she did, her movements all soft, fluid and connected. If he didn't know any better he could have sworn she was dancing. He noticed also that she had a different outfit on then the previous ones she'd been wearing. She had a light blue shirt that appeared loser than the previous shits had been, and seemed to look a lot better on her as well. Looking out towards the sandstorm Knives grit his teeth slightly. What did it matter if she looked better in it or not? Looking back, he saw she had a pair of plain black looking pants which made the outfit very simple though simple seemed to suite her.

Hinata stopped and closed her eyes. "It's rude to watch someone from the shadows."

Knives stepped forward, but did not say anything.

Hinata turned her head to look at him. "It's still rude to watch someone without their permission." she walked over to a canteen of water. "Are you ready then?"

Knives took a deep breath. "Yes."

Hinata turned to him. "Good." She motioned for him back on the floor. "Yesterday I explained about Kunai and taijutsu. Now I will continue on to ninjutsu. Ninjutsu is a classification of techniques that a ninja can use. Some will be basic and simple, others complex and dangerous."

Knives listened intently. "The basics will save your life more than you know. The more complex one can sometimes get you killed a lot quicker then you may think if you don't do it right. The more complex techniques can use up a lot more chakra. Chakra is the energy in the body that you use to activate the techniques."

"So how will they kill me?"

"The body can only house so much chakra. If you use a complex Jutsu that has a higher risk of failing you will give your opponent an easier chance at killing you. We'll discuss more about this as we get to it. I just want to touch base on these things now. The last thing you need to understand right now is genjutsu. Genjutsu is a technique that tricks the mind."

"Can anyone use this Genjutsu?"

"No. It depends on you, and how your chakra moves. Some can't use ninjutsu, but are masters of genjutsu. Some are the opposite. There are a few who are capable of using all of them. There are even people out there that can't use either genjutsu or ninjutsu."

Confusion crossed Knives face. "And they were still allowed to become ninja?"

A smile grew on Hinata's face. "I know of someone who had that very problem." Knives interest peeked. "Rock Lee. He was born incapable of using Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Still he worked hard and fought to become a ninja. He put all his training into becoming a taijutsu master. His strength and speed are almost inhuman."

"Inhuman?"

"He was able to reach a point where his body shouldn't have been able to withstand it. Still he kept going. He proved a lot of people wrong about him. If you put your mind to it you can do anything."

Knives mind continued to process the information. The thought that humans could accomplish so much was insane to him. "So then, teach me."

Hinata folded her arms. "Don't go getting in a rush. He had to learn the basics just like you are going to have to."

"Ok, so start the basics already."

Hinata simply smiled.

A week went by fairly quickly as the training began. The sandstorm was a strong one; it continued its forceful attack on the town while Knives trained. Hinata went over all the basics, cramming everything she could into one week. Most of the things that they learned, Knives already knew by his own means though he found that even his 'perfected' forms could be improved. Hinata was quite pleased that he already had some form of understanding though she found herself even more pleased at beiing able to improve the skills he had after all his boasting since they'd first met. Still his progress was a lot faster than she'd expected.

By the time the week had ended, Knives was beginning training with kunai. This proved to be a little more interesting. He was unfamiliar with having to rely on his body's movements in the manner that was now being demanded of him. He was slow to react, and angered quite easily since he was more accustomed to stopping his movements with the aim of a gun rather then fluently finish his attack and move right into another.

After four days with this training, Hinata told Knives to take a day to rest. Even though Hinata refused to train him, he continued to practice. His determination to become even stronger than he had thought himself to originally be had grown fierce. Hinata continued to watch him from the shadows with a smile. He was becoming very strong and very fast. Letting her smile fade, she thought about her decision. His determination reminded her of Naruto, but his lust for power reminded her of Occochimaru.

"You know it's rude to watch people from the shadows." Knives said as he spun around and held his kunai in a fighting stance.

Hinata just smiled. "But I have the right to monitor my student's work."

"It still counts as rude." Knives retorted.

Hinata shrugged, though she had a smile on her face. Vash had told her to be careful around Knives, yet for some reason she had not felt such a strong need to do so. Was Vash just paranoid about his brother or had something in Knives changed? Remembering when they first met, she couldn't help thinking that something in him since the journey had caused him to change, even if it was only a little. A dark chakra caught her attention, causing a chill to run down her spine. She was surprised she hadn't caught it sooner, but there was a strong lust for power that overwhelmed her. She looked around, at first glancing at Knives, but it wasn't coming from him. She moved towards Knives, her eyes searching for the source of her discomfort, finally settling at the doorway.

Knives froze as she placed a hand on his shoulder, a small squeeze causing him to become more alert that something was wrong.

"It's been a while, Hinata." came a calm but deadly voice from the figure at the door.

* * *

Uhoh, who is waiting in the doorway! Find out next chapter. Till then I'm not tellin!


	17. Chapter 17

Ok, next chap up

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_**Chapter 17**_

In the doorway stood a tall man who leaned against the side of the open door. His white gray hair hung slightly over his large round glasses. Hinata took a fighting stance while Knives stood still slightly behind her. He had a look of confusion on his face, though he started to step forward until Hinata stopped him.

"You can't handle him." she whispered.

"You've been quite difficult to find. Are you ready to go back?" Kabuto said as he began to walk into the room.

Knives was beginning to grow quite irritated with the situation. "Just who the hell are you?"

Kabuto stopped and looked at him. perhaps for the first time as far as Knives was aware. He gave a grin that Knives was all too familiar with since he himself had used it on more than one occasion. "Who's your friend Hinata?" She did not respond. "So, shall we go?"

"I asked you a question!" Knives snapped. Kabuto, however, ignored him. This made Knives temper start to reach a real boiling point, anger showing on his face.

"I'm not going back." Hinata spoke with a deadly tone. "You can inform him of that."

Knives glanced at hinata and then at the man. Realization started to come to him through the hinting conversation. Originally they were supposed to be running. Running from the man called Orrochimaru. His attention turned back to the guy with the glasses. Could this weird kid really be such a threat?

"You still haven't answered my question." Knives said in a dark but calm voice. His fingers twitched eagerly at his gun.

"If you must know..." he began in a matching tone. "My name is Kabuto."

Knives began to speak again, but Hinata interrupted him. "Will you quite with the idle chit chat." Her head turned slightly so that she could see Knives. "Get the hell out o fhere." Knives didn't move; defiance on his face. Her head turned back to watch Kabuto closely, her voice low. "This is not the time for arguing. Get your ass out of here. Now!"

Knives tried to protest, but Hinata had left his side to start an assault against Kabuto. Her moves were fast, but so were his. Knives simply stared; stunned at their speed. He could only catch a few shots when they slowed down slightly. Hinata had struck with her right hand, but Kabuto had blocked it.

Hinata brought her leg around to kick his midsection, but Kabuto easily dodged it, barely missing her other attack in the process as she brought her other arm in to strike at his arm. Hinata drew him out into the street so that she had more room for the battle. Knives followed, his gun aimed towards Kabuto but he gave a curse. They were too fast; If his timing was absolutely perfect, he would risk hitting Hinata instead.

Knives shoved his gun into its holster, watching the battle as he tried to formulate a plan. He needed to make a trap, but what did he ave to work with? He had anything he wanted, but the real question was how long it would take to gather it all. He had an idea, and the first step was to find a particular shop.

Hinata moved back, her ability to breathe becoming a little difficult. She had barely dodged his blade, though she had managed to escape. She knew that for a while she was at least a match for him, but if she didn't do something soon, he would get the upper hand. Chancing a glance at the inn, she saw Knives was gone now. She smiled slightly and turned back to Kabuto. If she was lucky Knives was on his way out of the town by now.

Knives, however, was not out of the town. He was busy setting up the trap he'd been planning. He had already known that they were short on supplies, especially with weapons but there were other things that could be done. He tied the last of his weapons to the string and smiled. If this wouldn't catch him, it would at least distract him.

* * *

Hinata panted hard as she shifted her weight slightly. Her right side was bleeding, but she didn't allow herself to wavier very much. She would die first before he took her back to Orrochimaru. Her head snapped up at as she heard a gun shot being fired. Knives stood to her right, his gun aimed straight for Kabuto. The first shot suprisingly had managed to graze Kabuto's arm, but it seemed to have missed anything vital.

"You're still here?" Kabuto's voice was monotone. "Maybe I should just kill you and get it over with."

He grinned. "Go ahead and try it."

Knives started to sprint down an alleyway, Kabuto following as he seemed to find amusement in Knives actions. "I wonder how far you can get."

Hinata sprinted after the two, trying to stop Kabuto when she fell to the ground. She was too weak from her wound to do anything else. Swearing profusely, she prayed that Knives actually knew what the hell he was doing.

Knives came slid against the ground as he stopped, Kabuto already only a few feet from him. Knives swore under his breath as he stared Kabuto. The man was definately a faster runner than he was, though he had hoped he'd have a little more time then that.

"Looks like times up."

Knives smiled. "Not quite." Aiming his gun to the side, Knives fired into the window of a building next to them. A large line of fire came between him and Kabuto. "Stupid human." he stared running back towards the inn, smiling as he heard his strings snap. He wasn't sure if they'd still work, but it seemed Kabuto had moved back into them when he tried to evade the fire. When the string snapped, several blades which he'd gathered from one of the shops would be hurled straight at Kabuto.

When Knives returned to the inn, Hinata was already sitting down against the side of the car. Glancing at the ground around her, he could see the large amounts of blood that she'd lost.

Hinata lifted her head slightly, her eyes on Knives. "I do hope your plan was a success."

Knives walked up to her, kneeling next to her. "I like to think so." Examining her wound, he frowned. She had been hurt pretty badly, and from the looks of things had lost a lot more blood then he'd thought. "Wait here, I'll find some bandages."

Hinata started to stand. "We should create some distance from this place first."

Knives stared at her, only a small hint of concern on his face though his tone remained indifferent. "You really think you should be moving around with that wound?" She ignored him and headed towards the inn. With a sigh, he caught up to her, putting an arm around her back to help her walk.

"Wound later, distance first." Hinata said as calmly as she could. "What's the point of caring for it if staying here that long gets us killed?"

Knives helped her into one of the chairs. "I'll pack." She started to protest, but Knives glared at her. "I'll pack. It will be faster." Sighing she nodded.

Knives was back downstairs in only a little over three minutes with both of their things. Tossing them into the back, he went back to help Hinata into the car. Jumping into his seat, Knives started the small car and was off in an instant. He was not really sure if his trick had worked, but it had at least bought them some time.


	18. Chapter 18

Yay, another chap. Seems to be taking on a mind of it's own. xD

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_**Chapter 18**_

Kabuto walked into the Inn where Knives and Hinata had been staying, leaning against the wall slightly. His body stung, and he had small burns all over. His outfit was tattered from the blades that had struck him, and some blood was dripping from a few different places. For some reason, however, he was smiling.

"Impressive. A trick worthy of a ninja." Kabuto said as he continued to lean against the wall for support. "Master Orrochimaru will want to hear about your new apprentice."

Knives looked back for a second, seeing that the city was out of sight, he gave a small sigh of relief. Glancing at Hinata, his relief faded, the car coming to a stop. She was resting against the seat, her eyes closed. Reaching into the back, he pulled out some of the bandages he grabbed before they left.

Hinata's eyes opened slightly, looking at him. "What are you doing? We should sti ..ll be moving."

Knives gave her an annoyed look. "We acquired distance. We need to take care of that wound."

Hinata sighed in defeat. He was really getting on her nerves at the moment especially when he was taking her words so literally but she was too weak to put up much of a fight. Feeling a bit awkward, Knives lifted her shirt only a few inches and began to wrap the bandage around her injury. She cried out as the bandage touched her wound, and he couldn't help wincing. He wasn't exactly used to having to be gentle with things, but tried to make it as quick as possible. It would have to be taken care of better once they reached town.

"It will at least work until we get into town." He threw the extra bandages into the back and then started the car again. Keeping a watchful eye on Hinata, Knives continued to try and gain as much distance as possible.

It took Knives about four hours to reach the nearest town, and much to both their delight, there were actually people in it. Knives parked the car and ran into the inn to sign for a room. Walking out, he opened the door and helped her to stand again. It was strange to have him helping her so much given how many times he'd threatened her life in the past, and now he had just saved her life. She didn't try to question him, but allowed him to help her up to her room. She laid down on the bed as Knives left, too exhausted and too stressed. Occochimaru was close on her heals, and now she was injured. What more could go wrong?

Knives returned to the room, setting her bag down next to the dresser.

"I'm going over to the bar. I want to see if anyone has heard of this Orrochimaru guy."

Hinata bolted up instantly, a hiss echoing with a loud "No." He remained silent as she stared at him, daring him to question her decision. Angrily, he stormed out of the room, slamming the door as he walked down the hall to his own room.

She laid back down again, this time being more careful with her wound. That was the last thing she needed right now. He would talk to a spy, or one of his own men even, and that would be it. They'd be done for then and there. She twirled her hair a little. "It doesn't help that I'm so obvious." she sighed and then shifted slightly so she could try to sleep.

Knives sat down on his bed, going through the things he'd brought in. Why the hell was she being so objective about him getting information? He stopped his search and cursed. Tossing his bag to the side he gave a small sigh. It was one of the first things she'd already taught him. An enemy could be anywhere; a spy could be anyone.

Walking over to the window, Knives looked down at the street, glancing at everyone who walked by. Anyone of those people could be the wrong one to ask. He thought about it for a minute and then smirked slightly. Asking could be a problem. Listening, however, wasn't quite as much of one. His smiled widened for a moment, and then he frowned. When the hell did he get to being so careful? Shaking his head he started towards the door, telling himself it wasn't about being careful, it was about being sneaky. As he left, he passed by Hinata's room, not stopping to tell her he was going out.

He didn't really go far though, since there was a bar just across the street. Stepping in, he looked around the room briefly and then took a seat not too far from the door.

There weren't very many people in this bar, though he still had something to work with. Most of the people there looked like the tougher kind of folk, but none of them seemed out of the ordinary. He caught a pair of eyes glancing his way. She was a skinny girl with short blonde hair. Her eyes were a greenish color, but seemed somewhat out of place with her image. Her glance was quick though, and then she turned back to the bar.

Knives ignored her and waited for the waitress.

"What would you like mister?"

Knives looked up. It was an older looking woman, and she seemed like she was having a very bad day. "A bottle of whiskey."

The woman turned on her heals and left with his order. It didn't take long for her to return with his whiskey and a glass. Paying, Knives turned his attention back to his surroundings. There were five men on the opposite side of the door that looked like a regular gang. To his left towards the bar sat a man who was covered by a dark colored cloak. His face was hidden, but there was something very familiar about him.

Glancing behind him he saw a young man who looked to be a simple farmer. Turning around, he glared at his glass. This didn't seem to be a very good place to start looking for clues. Just as he started to sip at his drink, another man entered the bar. He seemed like an ordinary guy except for one thing. There was a piece of cloth wrapped around his arm that he seemed to be hiding just barely under his short shirt sleeve.

The man started heading in Knives general direction, giving him the chance to catch a glimpse of the metal under his shirt and then gave the guy another look over. His hair was short and colored a deep orange color. He was dressed as though he was the leader of a gang of some kind. The man walked past Knives, taking a seat at the table behind him.

"You look too obvious." a man whispered calmly but deadly. "Too obvious."

"Hey, this is how I want to dress, so back off." the man snarled.

Knives sipped at his drink, taking a chance to look around him once more. The gang was busy drinking and laughing to notice much else going on. The young girl at the table seemed to be ignoring her surroundings for the most part, and what really caught his attention was the man in the hood. His attention seemed to be focused on the two that where talking behind him.

"Do you have anything to report?" the younger man questioned.

"Nothing. The girl hasn't been seen anywhere in the northern area." he leaned in closer. "I did hear of something interesting though. There's a guy called Vash the Stampede. He's got the biggest bounty on his head around here."

"That has nothing to do with us." the other man hissed.

"But maybe he can be useful..."

"No. We need the girl. Until we are told otherwise we keep searching for the Hyuuga brat."

"But what if we can't find her?"

"That is not an option." the man hissed. He turned his attention to the man at the other table, then looked back to the person sitting across from him. "There may be a chance she's closer than you think."

Getting up, the younger man headed out the door while Knives continued to sip on his drink. Now what should he do? He found the enemy, great, but had he gotten himself caught in the process?

He put down his drink, deciding it would be best to go back to the Inn. Stepping out into the sun, he started to cross the street, then stopped. Was someone following him? He turned around and looked back at the entrance to the bar. Then man in the hood had stepped out of the bar, and was staring right at him. But why?

The hooded man stepped into the street towards Knives who seemed to have been frozen in place. Silently the hooded man walked past him, stopping for only a moment, and then continuing on into the Inn.

Knives continued to stand there, his face pale. _They know you were listening_. He took a deep breath, and then started down the street towards another bar. Maybe now as not the best time to be going back to the Inn.


	19. Chapter 19

Here goes the next chap, hope you like. :)

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_**Chapter 19**_

Hinata opened her eyes slightly, having only been able to nap for a short time. She knew that Knives had left, but she hoped that he was not doing anything too foolish given there was little she could really do to help in her current condition. She blinked, suddenly sitting up. Her eyes stared at the dresser against the wall furthest from her, her face calm though there was a strange dark look present.

"How long have you been there?" she asked dangerously.

A man dresed in a long cloak stepped out from the shadows of her doorway, his hood covering his face. "Only a minute or two."

Hinata's eyes widened as she stared at the figure. She knew that voice. "Neji?"

Neji removed the hood as he nodded. His hair was long just as it always wals, though it was pulled back in a loose wrap in back. He looked worn and tired. Hinata stood up, hissing as her wounds protested the action but she needed to be sure it really was him.

"But how?"

"It's a long story, but right now we should leave. There are people looking for you."

Neji walked closer to her, trying to help support her walking. "Wait, Knives." Before he could stop her, she headed out of the room towards the one that she was sure Knives had taken. He had not locked his door, and what was worse, he had not returned either.

"Who is Knives?" Neji inquired.

"He's a tall man with white blond hair." Hinata turned to look at him, noticing the look on Neji's face. "You saw him?"

"At the bar across the street. He was listening in on a conversation with the people who are looking for you."

Hinata's eyes narrowed. "Tell me they didn't catch him."

"They knew he was listening. I told him, and he started walking down the street."

"Oh no .." Hinata headed for the steps, stopping as she lost her balance and fell against the wall. "Damn it."

Neji moved up next to her worriedly. "We don't have time to go after him." His words received a very dark look that caused him to take a step back. He wasn't sure if the look itself scared him or the fact that it had come from Hinata of all people. "Pack your things, I'll get him."

Walking down the steps, Neji put his hood back on to cover his face. Hinata scowled slightly as she watched him. Something was not right. How did he get here in the first place? Then again, how did Orrochimaru and his men get here? If it was so easy, then maybe she could get back home the same way? A small smile formed on her face as she headed back into the room to pack up her things. Once she was done, she ran into Knives room to grab his stuff. Luckily for her, he had only taken out a couple of items.

* * *

Knives sat in a different bar now, one that was on the other side of town then where he had been last. He was deep in thought though it was somewhat loud inside. Maybe he had been followed. What if he hadn't? What if that hooded man was one of them. Slamming his drink down, he got up, a few eyes looking his way as he did. He had listened to a man who he didn't even know. Just when the hell did he start trusting humans!

Stepping out of the bar, he grumbled to himself. Looking up from his thoughts, he stopped and stared at the two men who were standing in his way. They were the same two whose conversation he had listened in on earlier.

"you look like you've been traveling a lot." stated the younger man. Knives did not respond. "We were hoping we could ask you a few questions."

"No." knives proceeded to walk, intent on walking right pasted them. He stopped, taking a small step back as a kunai was thrust into his path. His eyes trailed the aim back to the bigger and uglier looking guy.

"That's not the answer we want."

Knives mentally cursed a few times, his eyes glancing between the two men who had now become his opponents. He was empty handed except for his gun, and there was no telling how effective that would be. The only thing he had to work with was the little taijutsu Hinata had taught him. But if he used that, they might recognize the style.

The smaller looking guy pulled out a few kunai, tossing them straight at Knives. He caught the movements easily, dodging the attack with with ease. His reaction was not however fast enough to avoid the punch from the bigger man which caused Knives to go flying a few feet back, hitting the ground roughly.

Sitting up, Knives brushed his arm across his cheek gently, a bruise now very evident. The two men were both grinning wildly, seeming to be enjoying the little scuffle. They were confident in their skills, and to make the matter worse, they could back it up. Standing, he was slightly off balance when another kunai came his way. Jumping back out of the line of fire, he glanced around the streets briefly. People where yelling and running from the fight that was brewing.

Unfortunately for Knives, all he had to count on right now as his ability to dodge the attacks, a feat that both men were quickly getting annoyed with.

"Is that all you can do?" the younger man asked. He gave a nod to his friend.

"My turn."

Knives moved back again, this time avoiding the punch that came his way. What was he going to do this time? He didn't have the time to make any traps. He continued to dodge the attacks, cursing as he was hit. His body started to double over as he cringed from the pain. It was a two on one match, and he was not able to keep up enough to evade them. Knives gasped as the wind was knocked out of him, the blow to his stomach causing him to step back slightly and fall to his knees. His mind was going crazy from the pain. Why the hell did she have to come along and prove to him that there were people stronger than him?

"Now, maybe you'll answer our questions."

"Do you think he will Ikki?"

Knives looked up towards the younger man, a difiant smile on his face. "Ikki? That's a dumb name."

The man scowled angrily, his eyes narrowing. "On second thought, maybe I'll just kill you instead."

Ikki spun his kunain and then gripped it, thrusting it straight towards Knives. Metal clanged with metal as the attack was blocked. All three men were staring with a look of surprise, the hooded figure from before now standing between Knives and his attacker. Ikki broke from the assault, backing up a few feet.

"You're annoying, I'll kill you both!" Both of the men charged for an attack.

"Rotation!"

The hooded figure's body began to spin, the two men being thrown back with the chakra blast. Knives put his arm over his face to try to protect himself from the wind and energy that was being blown around. Before he knew what was going on, someone had grabbed his arm and they were running down the street. When they stopped, both of them were in front of the car which had already been completely packed. Hinata looked up from her seat at the two then tossed Knives the keys. He was curious as to what exactly had happened, but was not interested in asking questions at the moment. Climbing into the driver's seat Knives stared the car, the engine roaring to live as the sped off in the opposite direction as where they'd been fighting the two men.

Neji had settled himself into the back seat, now thinking quietly as he looked to the two in front. _Why was this guy so important?_

* * *

^.^


	20. Chapter 20

:)

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_**Chapter 20**_

Vash gave a sigh as he sat in a bar at the eastern part of the city. He had been able to follow Knives' and Hinatas' trail for a while, but now it seemed he was coming up short on information. There had been an incident about two weeks prior, and apparently someone had seen a person who matched Knives description in the area. Making it even worse, he seemed to have been at the center of it. Everyone had scattered and hid so no one knew which way they had went when they left. Vash took a drink and then looked out into the street. At the rate he was going, he would never catch up to his brother.

"You look depressed."

A girl with green eyes sat down at the table, though Vash only gave a sigh. He did not want to be bothered.

"What's on your mind?"

"I really don't want to talk right now."

"Did something happen between you and that other blond haired guy?"

Vash's eyes widened. "You've seen him?"

A smile crossed her lips. "I saw which way he went too."

"Could you tell me?" Vash was excited. He didn't care that everyone in the bar was looking at him.

"Only if you do something for me."

Vash frowned as he sat back down against his chair, waiting to see what she wanted.

"Tell me about him." Vash gave a confused look. "Tell me about that handsome man you're looking for."

"Knives?" Vash wasn't sure they were talking about the same person. "Maybe I should get going."

Is that his name?" she grinned, a slight chuckle echoing from her. "That man with the white blond hair. He was tall and carried a large black gun at his side. It looked about the same as the one you have there."

Vash's mouth dropped. She really knew how to look for details. "What do you want to know about him?"

"What's his personality like? What does he like to do? Why is he with that young black haired girl?"

Vash was silent for a moment, deep in thought. It couldn't really hurt for him to tell her a little bit about him, could it? He started to tell her some of the gentler things that he knew of, at least gentler then some of the more gruesome things he had done and oddly enough she seemed really into his story.

"He seems like quite the guy." she stood up to leave. "I saw them head in the south east direction when they left. They seemed to be in an awfully big hurry. Someone said they got into trouble while they were here."

Vash stood up and thanked the lady then started in the direction she had advised he go. The green eyed blond watched Vash till he disappeared. "I'll make sure all your information is put to good use."

* * *

Knives parked the care by a near by Inn. It was the second town they'd stopped at since their run in with the two ninja. Luckily they had not had any further problems, but they made sure not to stay in one place for longer than a day. Neji paid for their rooms while Knives grabbed their things.

Hinata flopped down on her bed with a sigh. No one had spoken to each other since they left town two days ago. The tension was increasing, especially between Knives and Neji. Neither of them seemed to want to tolerate the other, and she felt as though she was playing monkey in the middle. She closed her eyes. Now what was she going to do? Her eyes opened as a knock came from the door.

"Come in."

Neji stepped into the room, Hinata's eyes on him as he closed the door.

"You look like you've seen better days."

"I have." Hinata closed her eyes again.

"I've been looking for you for a while." He pulled up a chair that was in the room and sat down next to her bed.

"I can tell." She opened her eyes again. "The desert hasn't been treating you to well."

He smiled slightly. "I got caught in a few sandstorms."

Hinata sat up slightly, her hand leaning against the bed. "How did you get here in the first place?"

Neji looked down at the floor. "Ever since Tsunade told me you went missing, I've been doing everything I can to find some clue as to where you were." He stood up and walked over towards the door. "I was close to giving up. There were no clues. No one had seen you anywhere for almost nine months. He turned to look over at Hinata who was keeping silent, listening.

"I was going through some of the Hokage's reports when she appeared."

Hinata tilted her head slightly. "She?"

"A strange looking girl. She said that she could lead me to you, but that was all she could do."

"A girl?" Hinata's voice held a strange skepticism.

Neji seemed to be anticipating this. "She said she'd seen you with Orrochimaru." Hinata's interest in the girl started to peek.

"What else did she say?"

"Nothing."

Hinata raised her eyebrow. "And then?"

"I passed out." Neji walked back to the chair. "When I woke up, I was laying in a hospital bed in a city called Little Jersey."

"Then how did Orrochimaru's men get here?" Hinata asked aloud.

"My guess?" Neji looked out the window. "Same way, different person."

Hinata put her hand on her head and let herself fall back to the bed. "This is too confusing!"

"How do you think I feel?" Neji walked back to the door. "I've been wondering around here for two months now. I'm ready to go back home."

Neji left the room, closing the door on his way out. Hinata rolled over on the bed and sighed. Home. That definitely sounded like a good idea, but then again, what about Knives? She sighed again. When did she start enjoying traveling with him? That part didn't really matter too much. What mattered was that she did enjoy it, and that she wanted to keep traveling with him.

Knives was sitting in his own room, thinking while he polished his gun. Ever since Hinata had come around, his gun seemed almost useless. Like an old toy that no longer worked. His whole world was being turned upside down, and strangely he didn't care as much as he once would have. Except for having people wanting to kill him, he was having fun. That was something he hadn't done in a long time.

Looking out the window, Knives put his gun into its holster. What would happen now? Would she be leaving with Neji and going back home? Maybe his life could go back to normal if she did. He sighed and sat down on his bed. How could he say that when he wasn't even sure what normal was for him anymore. Why couldn't things have gone his way when he and Vash had fought the first time?


	21. Chapter 21

Please send reviews.

* * *

_**Chapter 21**_

When morning came, Hinata made her way down into the restaurant that was connected to the Inn. Ordering breakfast, she sighed, a miserable look on her face since she hadn't gotten any good sleep at all and was overall in a bad mood. Knives plopped down next to her, a similar expression on his face as the two of them ate in silence.

Neij came downstairs not too long afterwards, stopping at the steps briefly. He had a feeling that this was not going to be a good day. Cautiously he sat down at the table, ordering something to eat as he glanced between the two quietly.

"I think we should head out to Little Jersey." Neji said calmly.

"Why?" came a cold reply from Knives.

"I wasn't talking to you."

Knives stopped eating. "I don't believe I even asked you to join in our traveling."

Neji matched him. "And I do believe I saved your life."

Hinata covered her ears.

"I don't recall asking you to." Knives hissed.

"No, but I did."

"So you saved me. Big deal. Now get lost."

Neji was really starting to get angry. "Maybe I don't want to."

"Then I'll make you." Knives said coldly.

"Shut up; both of you!" Hinata yelled. Looking around at the people who were staring at them, she turned a bright red and walked away from the table. Storming off, she left and headed down the street.

Neji got up and followed after here as the two left Knives behind, still sitting at the table with a stunned look. Cursing a few times, he put money down and went upstairs, slamming his door as he did so. What did he care if they left anyway? Grabbing his gun, he sat down and stared at it. Like hell he was going to just let that Neji talk to him like that. Standing, Knives slipped the gun into his holster and left the Inn, muttering a few more swear words along the way.

Hinata had already started to run towards the edge of the city, having spotted a small mountain like rock that she could hide on. Glancing back, she noticed Neji was following her, still chasing after her until they were a little ways past the large cliff that was sticking out from the rock. Neji reached out and grabbed Hinata's wrist, a surprised look on his face as she whirled around to attack him. Letting her go, he jumped back out of her reach.

"What's with you?"

"I just want to be alone."

"You aren't acting like you used to." Neji blurted out. This, however, turned out to be a mistake as Hinata's featured turned even darker.

"Really? You only just now can tell?" She started towards him with a deadly look on her face. "You know why don't you live in a dungeon for seven months, constantly being tortured by Orrochimaru and see how you turn out!"

Neji took another step back, clearly in a state of shock by her actions. He started to speak but she didn't give him the chance.

"I've been through a lot, and I don't think you can really relate to it!. In fact, I don't really want to go back anyway."

"Don't want to go back?" Neji looked at her with concern. "You really want to stay here in this desert?"

"Things were going just fine with me and Knives till you started sticking your nose in." Hinata hissed.

"And just what is he to you anyway!" Neji countered. "Are you two a couple or something?"

Hinata blushed rapidly. "What business would it be to you fi we where?" Neji was silent. Taking a deep breath, Hinata tried to calm down before she spoke again, the red in her cheeks fading a bit. "He's a friend to me, and I like traveling with him." she paused. "It's not like I'm causing some chaotic mess cause I'm missing anyway."

"Actually you are." Hinata did not respond. "Kiba and Shino have been worried. They've been nagging Tsunade to let them take a team to search for you. Even Naruto has been really worried about you."

A blush formed again as she looked back at him. "He came back?" Neji nodded. Again she was silent, still deep in thought before she blurted out. "Wait, Shino, he's ok?"

Neji nodded. "He's alright. Naruto though, he's been driving Tsunade crazy about finding you and Sasuke."

Hinata was silent for a while, thinking. Her friends were really looking for her. The had been looking for her the entire time, and Shino was ok too.

"Go back." Hinata looked behind her; Knives stood with his eyes closed, leaning against the cliff. "Your friends are looking for you."

Knives opened his eyes, as he pushed off from the wall and starting back towards the town without another word. Hinata watched him as he walked off, a sudden sinking feeling forming. Why did she suddenly feel like chasing him? The further he walked, the more her heart seemed to tighten. Why for him? Neji was talking to her but for some reason she didn't hear what he was saying and didn't really care either. Ignoring, she headed back to the Inn.

Knives went straight to his room, his gun in his hand as he sat in the dark. He felt strange. He didn't know why he cared if he kept traveling with her. If she was gone he could do whatever he wanted. For some reason that didn't seem to ease away what he was feeling. He'd allowed himself to get close to her like Vash had gotten close to Rem. What was the point? Eventually she'd die just like Rem did.

The silence ended as a knock came to the door; He ignored it. Hinata walked into the room. In the darkness, she could see Knives sitting on his bed. Closing the door, she walked towards the chair that sat hear the window; she could tell even with the little lighting that the layout of his room was different than hers.

"Why are you here?" Knives said in a strange voice.

"I wanted to talk to you." Hinata replied.

"About what?"

Hinata shifted her weight a bit. "About where you want to head next."

Knives looked over at her. "Aren't you going to go back with Neji?"

"I'm not ready to go back." Hinata looked out the window. "I was having fun traveling around here."

Knives gave a dark laugh. "I don't buy that."

Hinata blushed, thankful he probably couldn't see it. Why did he have to be so good at observing? "Ok fine." She took a deep breath. "I was enjoying traveling with you."

Knives looked up from his gun and at her. "Me?" She nodded. "Why me?"

Hinata's blush didn't seem to go away. "Because I like being with you."

"But what about your friends?" Knives inquired.

"I would like to see them again, but..." she opened the door. "I still don't want to stop traveling with you."

Hinata left the room, closing the door behind her. Knives remained where he was, his gun dangling as he looked out the window. He wasn't sure what he should do, but Hinata's words never left his mind. It wasn't for a long time that a very strange thought crossed his mind. What if he went with her? He laid down on his bed, moving his gun to rest under his pillow as he tried to get some sleep, his mind still focused on the odd thought, weaving a new path through his mind.


	22. Chapter 22

Ok here goes chapter 22. Please review.

* * *

**_Chapter 22_**

The next day came quickly, the night turning into sunrise as Knives laid on his bed, still wide awake. He had not gotten any sleep at all with the pending decision running rampant in his mind. Getting up, he grabbed his gun and headed downstairs for breakfast. A scowl formed as he noticed Neji was already up though it faded fairly quickly when he noticed the bottle of alcohol next to him. Had he been there all night?

Sitting down, Knives ordered something off the menu. Neji seemed to ignore him as though he hadn't noticed him come down.

"You won't be able to move if you keep that pace up." Knives said while he started to eat.

Neji looked up at him then back down at his folded arms. He was able to hold his liquor a little better than he did a few years back, but his tolerance was still not that good.

"I've been a hell of a shitty cousin." Neji said more so to himself.

Knives paused and looked at him with a little surprise. Considering they had the same eyes he'd expected him to have been a brother or something but a cousin?

"I didn't know you were cousins." Knives said slightly conversationally.

"Hinata doesn't get much support from her direct family." Neji said in a depressed manner. "I have no siblings, so I treat her like my sister."

Knives nodded his head in understanding.

Neji ignored him. "First she gets kidnapped by one of the worst people possible, then she's stuck on this desert planet." Neji ran his finger around the rim of his glass. "Now she says she'd rather stay here then go back home."

Knives just stared at the man. He had seemed the type to never give information out so willingly. Neji was definitely a strange drunk. "I don't know if that is really accurate." Knives stated, thinking back to her words the night prior.

Neji closed his eyes silently. It wasn't long before Hinata woke and made her way downstairs for breakfast as well, only ordering something small to eat. As she started to eat, Knives decided to put his plan in action.

"You asked me yesterday where I wanted to head." Knives started. Hinata paused from her eating and looked at him. "I think we should head towards Little Jersey."

Both Neji and Hinata stared at him; Neji more confused than Hinata.

"Why do you want to head that way?" Hinata asked.

Knives shrugged. "It's the best place for clues."

Hinata tilted her head slightly, a confused look on her face. "Clues for what?"

Neji was sitting up now, his full attention on Knives. "There aren't any clues to getting back to your world around here now are there?"

Hinata let her jaw drop. It took her a minute to recover. "I told you Knives, I'm traveling with you -"

"I know. That's why I said we."

Hinata's face began to darken. "I'm not going back yet."

Knives smiled, one that he hadn't truly gotten to use in a long time. "You're going to have to if I"m going."

Silence fell over the room. If Neji was a bit more durnk he could have sworn he was going to fall on the foor, though perhaps that was why his hand was gripping the table. None of them spoke and Knives just leaned back in his chair, satisfaction evident with the smile changing to a gloating one. Hinata shuffled around on her chair. This was not what she had expected at all, and she couldn't help wondering if that was even possible in the first place. Then again, she was here wasn't she?

Neji was the first one to be able to speak. "Are you sure you want to do that? You may not be able to come back."

Knives shrugged. "I'm tired of this desert. It's too boring around here."

"But what about Vash?" Hinata whispered.

"What about him?"

Neji looked at the two of them with a confused expression. Hinata however didn't stop to explain. "What if he goes looking for you? He'll be searching forever and never be able to find you."

Knives face grew dark. "Do I look like I care?"

"He's still your brother."

Now Knives was getting pissed off. "He was never a brother when I needed him so why the hell should I treat him any different now?"

Hinata stopped. She did not have an answer to this. Looking up at him she remained silent, glancing between Knives and Neji. He was still gripping the table as if he would fall at any second. With a sigh, she settled her eyes on Knives. "We'll leave in one hour." Standing, she tossed some money on the table. "We're heading to Little Jersey."

* * *

Finally they have a solid destination, but will they find what they're looking for?


	23. Chapter 23

_**Chapter 23**_

Meryl rubbed her eyes tiredly. She was still doing office work, and with Vash gone altogether life was just too boring. She had written to him a week ago when she got told that she would be transferred to Little Jersey. The old building was going to be taken down and rebuilt so all the employs were being shuffled around.

"Why in the hell am I still working here anyway?"

She had agreed to go back to work while Vash was still looking for his brother. She hadn't been too comfortable with leaving him on his own, but Burnadeli had demanded she return to work or lose her job. Meryl had shortly after she leve sent in a letter that she was following Vash the Stampede, but it was ignored. Since he had not been a threat over the last year, they had considered him to be old news.

Meryl folded her arms and laid her head down. "I wish Milly was around; then things might liven up a little.

"Meryl! Meryl!"

She lifted her head, turning towards the familiar voice. Milly was waving to her from an office cubical not far from her. "Milly?"

Looking at the clock, Meryl stood, both of them heading off for lunch together.

"It's been a while since I've seen you Meryl."

"Yes it has. What have you been up to all this time?"

"Working. I haven't been back long though, been spending most of my time with the baby."

Meryl smiled thoughtfully at Milly. The one night, the last night before the Wolfwood died, Milly had spent with him. She had not realized they'd become so close until Milly had proudly announce that she was going to have a baby. She had seen it as the greatest gift that he could leave her.

"Come to think of it, I don't think you told me her name?" Meryl asked.

Milly looked at her stunned. "I didn't? Her name is Nikki."

Meryl chuckled. Of course she would have named her after her father. Checking the time, she stood and gathered her things. Milly did the same, and the two returned to work.

* * *

Vash sighed heavily, slumping slightly as he walked. He had followed them in the right direction, but once again he was too slow and they'd already left. He was starting to get the feeling that he be spending the rest of his life playing cat and mouse. On top of it all it seemed there was another person who had joined the group, a strange man according to what he'd heard. It was odd enough that Knives was traveling with Hinata, but now he was tolerating two people? Just what was happening that he was missing? Taking a sip of water, Vash started up the car, heading towards Little Jersey. It was about time he took a break and went to visit Meryl.

As the car roared to life, Vash looked back briefly. What if they went the other direction? He was already far behind, and he had no clues as to their next destination. Shaking his head he gave a sigh. He wasn't getting anywhere as it was and he hadn't seen Meryl in a couple of weeks. He'd just have to hope for the best for now.

* * *

Neji slammed his foot into the side of their car. "This thing is useless."

"Do me a favor, and not kick it when I'm trying to inspect it." Knives snarled. Closing the hood he wiped his hand across his forehead. "It's no good. We'll have to walk."

Hinata grumbled and grabbed her things. "It's a good thing we pack light."

Stopping for a moment, Hinata looked out towards the direction they had just come from. Neji came up to stand next to her, his eyes following her gaze quietly. "What's wrong?"

Hinata shook her head. "It's nothing. I just thought I felt something."

Neji glanced again in the direction she'd been gazing, but he didn't pick up anything. Grabbing the rest of the things out of the car, the three deserted the broken vehicle and continued on. The rest of the trip to Little Jersey took about three hours, and all three of them were tired by the time they reached down. Knives was the only one that was still up to roaming around after they'd checked in. Making his way down to the bar, he ordered his drink and glanced around the room. No one looked overly strange, or stranger then the normal citizens got. With a sigh, Knives started to think about what he was doing.

He knew that where he was going was going to be just as filled with humans as it was here, though for some reason he didn't mind it as much. Perhaps it was because of what he knew he could learn, and what he'd be able to do that gave it a better appeal then this place. And it would not be completely covered in sand according to what Hinata had told him. In her world he'd be able to see things that he had only read about and had described to him.

That place would be different. There would be no Vash. He thought about that for a moment. Just what did he want anymore? Everything was changing, so many things he used to know making less and less sense. He was tolerating humans and letting them live. He'd even tolerated Neji even though he'd wanted to kill him in many occasions already. What would happen when he went to her world?

He took a sip of his drink, still deep in thought. He was sure that he would have more opportunities for training there. Was leaving humans to live worth this power? He took another sip. It would only be temporary, right? He would resume his mission once he had gathered all the power that he wanted.

Again he sipped at his drink. Once he was finished there he would come back and beat Vash until he cried for mercy. He could destry everything that he despised the most and create perfection in the world. It wasn't like he'd really be staying in her world anyway. It was a far more dangerous place, and the idea that so many could be stronger than him just gave him chills. Besides who cares about that world, it wasn't his business to deal with.

An image of Hinata came to to the front of his thoughts and he gulped down the rest of his drink. With a sigh he looked at the glass and then set it down. Why was it she was starting to affect him so much? Every time he thought about her it seemed like nothing else mattered. It was annoying.

When Knives returned to the hotel, both Hinata and Neji were sitting at a table eating. Glancing at Hinata, Knives took a seat next to Neji instead. Neither of them had come up with any information with their search. Then again they had no information to really work with in the first place. Hinata decided to retire early, heading up to her room quietly.

Sighing as she closed the door, Hinata glanced out the window. What was she doing? Nothing made sense anymore. Not Neji, or Knives, or the world itself. She wasn't even sure if she understood herself. Everything was changing so fast she couldn't help wondering, what would Konaha be like now?

Sitting on her bed, she started to brush her hair. It would be nice to see all her friends again though. Setting down the brush, she laid down on her bed. Could they even get back or were they all going to be stuck there? Closing her eyes, she decided to try and leave all her problems and mysteries to wait until morning.

* * *

A young and skinny girl stepped up to stand next to a man with round glasses. She had green eyes and blond hair that flowed as the wind whipped about. Placing her hand on her hip, she looked out at the city Little Jersey. seeming somewhat proud of herself.

"You sure they're there?" The man with round glasses asked.

"I'm sure Kabuto. Unlike some bone head men, I know what I'm doing."

Kabuto smiled. "I hope for your sake you are correct. You are only more useful than them when you get the job done."

"Heh. Will there be any others joining us?"

Kabuto pulled out a kunai from his pouch. "Dozak and Ikki should be arriving soon." He walked a few feet to the car he'd stolen some time ago. "Orrochimaru will not be happy if things go badly here Nefera." He walked back over to stand next to her, a few explosive tags in his hand. "You best not fail him."

Nefera smiled. "So we use the people then?" She turned to the city. "Seems appropriate considering the enemy ..."

* * *

:D


	24. Chapter 24

Ok here goes another chap. Also I wanted to thank the readers who have been sticking with the story so far. :) Makes me want to keep writing.

* * *

_**Chapter 24**_

There was an explosion in the city; People were screaming all around as they ran for cover. Only an hour ago things had been calm, now it was all chaos. Several people stood around the crumbling buildings, unlike the rest of the town not running for cover.

"I can't believe you actually taught him that!" Neji yelled over all the noise.

Hinata grumbled angrily. "Get over it already."

The two dodged an oncoming attack, their backs pressed against each other. One one side was a man with round glasses, and the other was a green eyed blond.

"How can you expect me to get over it!" Neji glanced behind him slightly, looking at the girl beside him. "You taught him things that belong to our clan!"

Hinata rolled to the side, evading another attack. "You're over reacting!"

* * *

Across some of the rubble Knives was having some trouble of his own. Shifting his foot back, he steadied his fighting stance, a kunai in his one hand. In front of him were the two men he'd run across a few days ago. He was grateful that he at least knew a little bit about his opponents, but still he was at a disadvantage. He swore under his breath a few times as he watched them, waiting for the next move. Just how had everything turned into such a mess in the first place?

* * *

Only an hour ago, the city had been fairly quiet. Children were playing outside happily as their parents watched. Hinata and Neji had just come downstairs after resting from the long walk, talking about what their next move would be. They had come up empty handed in their search and were debating leaving for another town. Hinata had been the first to become distant from the conversation, her eyes focused on the edge of the city. It wasn't long til Neji's focus had followed her own.

Stepping outside, both Neji and Hinata used their Byakugan while Knives squinted his eyes to try and see who was coming. He to his dismay couldn't see anything, something that was really starting to annoy him. The two men that had confronted Knives before were heading straight for them. Several explosions drew their attention back to the city, unaware of the other two who had slipped into the city unnoticed.

In only mere moments Knives ha been forced to show his new skills as Kabuto burst through the dust cloud that had formed, his blade coming down towards him. With a twirl of his wrist, Knives kunai countered the attack. As he'd studied with Hinata, he'd gotten an idea of where some of the chakra points where supposed to be located and used that to get a general idea of where to strike in battle. He had vaguely heard Neji start cursing and yelling something about his fighting but the three of them had gotten separated before he could make much sense of it.

Kabuto broke off his attack as he went for Neji and Hinata, a female with green eyes taking his place as she attacked. Knives countered her attacks, being forced back further from the others until she too broke off her attack just as he was caught by another attack from behind. Turning, Knives stared at the two men he'd fought before.

* * *

Hinata and Neji had been pressed back away from Knives, their backs to each other as they faced their opponents. Unable to do very much as they were, the two separated, giving some distance between their battles. Neji's concentration was on Kabuto while Hinata had her hands full with the green eyed woman, Nefera.

The green eyed woman brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "You're pretty good."

Hinata smirked slightly. "You're not too bad yourself. I wonder, why is it you're helping Orrochimaru?"

"That's my business." she raised her kunai in front of her, tilting her wrist just slightly. "But maybe I'll tell you on our way back to Orrochimaru."

Hinata narrowed her eyes. "I'll die here before I go back there."

"I'll do well to remember that then."

* * *

Vash shoved his way through the crowd, struggling to get further into the city. He had seen a building fall towards the Burnadeli Insurance buildiing as he'd come into town; His heart pounding. He didn't know what was going on, but he had a sinking feeling about it all. His eyes scanned as many of the people he passed as he could, hoping he would find Meryl somewhere.

"Mr. Vash!"

He stopped, his head turning in the direction of the call. Milly was standing off to the side of the main crowd, Meryl next to her. Again he struggled to get around the people.

"I'm glad you two are safe."

"We're fine Mr. Vash." Milly smiled though there was concern in her voice. "You take care of Meryl. I have to get back home."

Milly left the two, pushing through the crowd of people who were still trying to get out of the city. Glancing up, Vash noticed that she was heading in the direction where most of the commotion seemed to be coming from. "Meryl!" He just barely saw her black hair passing through the crowd as she followed after Milly. Worriedly, Vash followed after the two of them.

Getting passed the crowd, Vash brief a slight sigh of relief, seeing Meryl just a few feet in front of him. Another explosion went off, the building just ahead of them crumbling down towards the ground. Running faster, Vash grabbed both of the girls, shoving them out of the way.

"Vash!" Meryl called through the dust.

"I'm alright." Vash said softly. Slowly he got up, only having a few scrapes from the falling rubble.

"Milly?" Vash looked around. She was already gone. "Milly!"

"Which way did she go?"

Vash looked around, seeing where the rubble fell and what paths were open. "I think she went this way." Vash grabbed Meryl, making sure she was close to him before continuing further through the chaos. Rounding a corner, he stopped cold. "Knives?"

* * *

Kabuto finally attacks, now who will win?


	25. Chapter 25

Hey I got chapter 25 up too. Hope you all like it. Please Review and let me know what you think.

* * *

_**Chapter 25**_

Rounding a corner, Vash stopped cold. "Knives?"

In front of him stood Knives Millions; His posture and stance were very unfamiliar to him. His left hand was drawn back near his chest while the other was held out in front of him, his plam facing towards two men who were grinning evilly. Though the posture was unfamiliar, if he had to guess, it looked as though the two men had attacked him. Knives turned his body slightly, his stance slacking so that he could see his brother.

"What are you doing here?" Vash was too stunned to respond.

In that small instant the tougher looking man took the opportunity to charge at Knives. Turning his attention back to the battled, his arms locked back into place, preparing for the assault. He was already somewhat familiar with his attacks, mostly blunt force which enabled him to dodge it more easily; a smile across his face. He was enjoying the fight.

Summoning up his chakra, Knives took an open opportunity to strike. He thrust two fingers straight at the man's stomach then stepped back slightly. With a look of surprise, the man stumbled back. The grin that had been plastered on the skinny man's face finally fell. Knives had observed the attacks, getting a feel for when he had time to get close to Dozak even though his attacks were enough to knock him out in one strike. He had been hiding his full capabilities until now.

"Dozak, be careful."

"Yeah."

Ikki looked behind Knives, noticing the two who were now standing there; a dark smile on his face.

Knives didn't miss a minute of it. "Get out of here. Now."

Vash started to say something but opted not to argue. Grabbing Meryl's hand, Vash continued in the direction he had hoped that Milly had gone.

"You're not getting away!" Ikki yelled. Before Vash could even catch it, the man was already in front of Vash, blocking their path.

Vash pushed Meryl behind him, taking a step back as he saw the blade coming down at them. Reaching to his side, Vash tried to draw his gun, his movements far slower then the man's. His gun wasn't even out of his holster when he was staring at Knives back, his kunai clashing with Ikki's.

"Knives ..."

"Don't make me repeat myself." he tilted his head slightly towards his brother. "You're mine to kill when I get to it, and don't forget that." Knives attention returned to his opponents, forcing the kunai forward to make Ikki draw back away from them. "Go already."

Giving a light nod, Vash left, Meryl at his side as they tried to find Milly. Knives glanced only once at the two, making sure they were gone before he returned to the battle.

* * *

Neji stumbled back, his balance wavering a bit. Kabuto's knowledge of the gentle fist was far greater than he had expected. His chakra was running low, and if he didn't finish the battle soon, Kabuto would do him in for sure. His only chance was if he could create even a small opening to take advantage of.

Charing at Kabuto, Neji watched every detail he could, searching for even the tiniest opening. He struck with his right arm, then his left. Drawing his left leg back, she shifted around to the right to dodge an attack. Whirling around, he moved again to dodge, leaving himself open. Kabuto struck with his kunai; missing.

Seeing his chance, Neji struck at his arm. Kabuto did not dodge, instead stricking at Neji with his other arm. Still in mid attack, Neji tried to stop, his feet pushing him back, but not fast enough. Breathing heavily, Neji stared at Kabuto, blood begining to seep from the gash across the left side of his stomach. Taking another step back, Neji stumbled and fell to the ground; He was out of chakra. He squinted his eyes slightly, just barely seeing Kabuto walking towards him, s smug grin on his face.

* * *

Hinata was not doing much better. Her opponent was exceptionally good with mixing weaponry and puppet mastery which she was using to her full advantage. Nefera raised her kunai with her chakra strings, causing them to fly towards Hinata once again. Using her kunai, she blocked the attacks, her Byakugan allowing her to be able to see the blades coming from each side.

"You can dodge well, but as long as you can't attack me, I'm safe." Nefera gloated.

Hinata grumbled under her breath. Unfortunately she was right. She couldn't get close enough to attack with all the long range weapons at her disposal. At the rate she was going, she would waste all her chakra on defending. Nefera pulled out a scroll. Using a summoning technique, the woman added several more blades to her arsenal, all of them being connected to her chakra strings.

"So you intend to tire me till you can land a hit. That seems kinda cowardly." Hinata spat.

"Unfortunately I must be cautious with you or Orrochimaru will have my head." Nefera stated calmly.

Hinata shifted her stance, watching all the blades in front of her. Using her defense technique, Hinata evaded the attack, knocking all the weapons back. Still it did no good, she was not able to cut the chakra strings connection to the blades and they just came back again.

"You would be better off to just give up."

Hinata narrowed her eyes, her opponent thrusting all her weaponry at her at once. Jumping into the air, she blocked the attacks, coming out on top of the attack. Drawing her gun, she aimed it at Nefera, firing it rapidly. Nefera dodged the attack, shifting her blades to turn and attack at her in the air.

Again she blocked the attack, in one hand using the kunai, in the other using the metal of the gun to block as many as she could.

Nefera smiled. "You're aim is horrible. Maybe you should have practiced with that thing more."

Hinata screamed out as one of the blades was imbedded into her side. She could not keep up with the bombardment, her body falling to the ground as a few more blades were brought down at her, one landing in her upper leg, and another in her arm. Squinting one eye open, Hinata tried to aim her gun again, another kunai flew down at her as Nefera grinned.


	26. Chapter 26

Ok people here goes chapter 26. I think I may be getting a little crazy here, but hey it's working so far. lol

* * *

_**Chapter 26**_

Nefera's grin widened. Her weapon had been completely on target.

"You get fooled too easily." a voice said calmly from behind.

Nefera's eyes turned to ones of horror. The girl on the ground disappeared into a cloud of smoke. "You .."

Hinata brought her hand up against Nefera's left arm and it fell lifelessly to her side. She was still able to use the puppet technique, and Hinata was forced away once again as the weapons were thrust at her. She couldn't guide as many of them, but still it kept the distance between them.

"Shit!" A rock to Hinata's left transformed into a shirikin, the blade too close for her to dodge. Stumbling, Hinata fell one knee as the shirikin was thrust back out of her leg.

"It seems you aren't as much of a challenge as I thought."

* * *

Vash rounded another corner. They still could not find Milly anywhere. Another building beside him started to crumble, the abuse from the battle causing the supports to become unsteady.

"We have to get out of here."

Meryl turned back towards him. "But what about Milly?"

"If we stay much longer we'll be burried with the rubble."

Giving a saddened nod, Meryl allowed Vash to grab her hand, following him out of the rubble.

* * *

Knives grit his teeth together, one foot sliding back as he steadied himself. His speed had increased, but it wasn't enough. What chakra he could use was already just about diminished. He was too concerned about the battle to be angry at the fact that he was losing the fight or that he had to admit to himself that he wasn't ready to fight such a battle in the first place. He was already too exhausted and though the other two had taken some scrapes and scratches, they didn't seem to be as tired.

Dozak chuckled, charging at Knives once again. His reaction time had slowed with his exhaustion; he wouldn't be able to dodge the attack. Gripping his kunai tighter, he raised his hand up, hoping he'd at least survive the blow.

* * *

"You're pretty good." Kabuto said as he wiped away some blood from his face." But not quite good enough."

Neji leaned back against a large piece of rubble, his hand on his side. He'd managed to pull himself up and get one last strike in, but now he could barely move at all.

"Why don't you just give up? It's not you we're after anyway."

Kabuto was drawing closer, and he could feel it. His hand tightened firmly on his remaining shirikin. He was out of options. Pushing himself up, he turned, tossing the shirikin at Kabuto.

Dodging them came as little effort, however, only needing to twist his body slightly to avoid the attack. With his target in sight he charged forward, his kunai aimed straight for Neji who was stumbling back from his wound.

* * *

Time froze on the people of Little Jersey. Vash was in the middle of running at full pace, Meryl staggering to keep up at his side. Slowly a girl in a white dress walked past the two of them. Though she was small, she had long red hair and her eyes were an odd pure black color. She passed by Knives who was only inches away from being pounded in the face and continued further into the debris.

As she walked, the girl glanced towards Neji and Kabuto. The kunai was less than a foot away from it's intended target. Hinata was in about the same situation. The green eyed girl was summoning her weapons to strike down their opponent who was unable to move very far. Several different weapons ranging from as small as kunai and shirikin to objects the size of swords where all air borne, no more then five feet from Hinata.

"Again you force my hand. What are you thinking, Driel?" Slowly the girl moved towards the center of the city. "My magic may be weak now, but I can still save them from your plans."

A glowling circle formed under the girl, a star shape present at it's center. Wind whipped around her around, circling before it spread to several individuals within the city. The strange wind encircled Knives, Hinata, and Neji as they began to vanish with the wind.

Looking around with her unusual black eyes, the girl spotted Vash and Meryl. "I'm afraid I must send you as well. This area will be too dangerous especiall since they know you are connected to them."

Slowly the wind began to wrap around them.

"I'm afraid; however, I can't guarantee you will be dropped off in the same place as your friends."

Both Vash and Meryl vanished the same way Knives and the others had. The ninja belonging to the sound village remained frozen, their attacks still ready to strike where the others had been. The circle disappeared, and the girl glanced around her for a moment. The destruction of the city saddened her, but their was little she could do at this point. Closing her eyes, the girl vanished, disappearing as though she hadn't even existed in the first place.


	27. Chapter 27

Hey I'm on a roll. Here goes chapter 27. Enjoy!

* * *

_**Chapter 27**_

Knives opened his eyes slowly, the sun causing him to squint a bit. His vision was blurred, but he could have sworn he had seen something green above him. His eyes widened as his thoughts caught up with him, a chirping sound coming from somewhere, or perhaps several places but he couldn't be sure. The last thing he remembered was the large guy, Dozak, charging at him. Sitting up, he looked around.

All thought of his enemy vanished as he glanced around at where he was. He was not in a hospital, nor was hi in any kind of desert area either. In fact, he noticed there wasn't an ounce of sand in sight. Shades of green filled his vision at every angle. He could see the countless leaves that covered the large brown trees. Light from the sun peered down through what little it could. The grass around him seemed healthy.

To his left he spotted a small flower and a smile crossed his face. Everything around him seemed so unbelievable. He'd seen a few things here and there on the seeds ships, and he know what he was looking at, but never had he imagined that this was how it would really look. A crackling sound caught his attention. Not far from him a fire was burning strongly. This sparked his interest even more. Near the fire he now noticed that Hinata was leaned up against a tree, her leg lightly wrapped with a bandage from the wound. Neji sat next to her on the right, both seeming to be sleeping.

Slowly Knives stood and walked closer to the two. Stopping he looked down at Hinata for a moment. He could tell she was breathing alright and for some reason that made him feel a bit more at ease. Looking up at the large three behind her, he let his hand run across the bark gently.

"You've never seen a real tree before have you?" Neji asked. His eyes were open now.

Knives forced back his smile and replaced it with a look of indifference. "There were a couple small areas where plants and trees could survive."

Neji tilted his head so he could look at Knives. "A few areas are nothing compared to a forest."

Knives sat down near the fire. "It's all the same just more of it."

Shrugging his shoulders, Neji decided to give up. He'd caught the look Knives had held before he spoke, but it seemed it was something he didn't like showing around others. "We're in the Fire Country, that much I know for certain." He looked over at Hinata. "When she wakes up we should start heading for Konaha."

Knives did not respond. Instead he got up and left the camp area to explore more of what was around him. Making his way further through the forest, he kept examining everything, even recalling some of the names of plants he recognized. So this was what Rem had always been rambling about. Grabbing a leaf from a lower branch, he looked it over, smiling slightly. It seemed different then back when he was on the ship.

"It's different even from what did grow in the desert."

Looking up, he spotted something growing on one of the trees. Reaching up, he pulled the red object down and looked it over. He'd seen this before too. An apple. Taking a bite, he smiled.

"Heh. Even this tastes better."

Spinning around, Knives pulled out his gun. There was a rustling in the bushes near him. A small fox ran out from the bush and towards the tree. Stopping, the small creature lifted its head, sniffing a few times before it continued on further into the forest. Putting his gun back in his holster he started to laugh. He had been spooked by a small fox. Turning, he headed back towards the camp.

* * *

Hinata grumbled as she started to wake. "I feel like someone stabbed my leg."

Neji raised his eyebrow. "That would be because someone did."

Sitting up, Hinata hissed in pain. Her leg was very stiff now, and it throbbed painfully. Blinking she looked around. "Are we .. back?" Neji gave her a nod and handed her a canteen of water. Taking it, she drank slowly and then handed it back. Hinata was already on her feet, testing her wounded leg when Knives returned to the camp. It was still in bad shape, but at the very least she could walk on it for now.

"So which way do we go?" Knives asked.

Neji looked around with his Byakugan. "Our best bet is to head north."

With a nod, the three set out from the camp.

* * *

Meryl put her hand over her eyes as she started to wake, the sun shinning into her eyes. Looking around, she noticed that she was an unfamiliar looking room. Bolting up, Meryl looked around to see if Milly or Vash were there. There was no one. She was alone. Looking out the window, she looked outside, her eyes widening at the sight. The scenery wasn't right. Where was all the sand?

The door opened, and Meryl turned back from the window nervously. Vash walked through the doorway, her nervous vanishing as she relaxed. He was carrying a bowl and some water which he set down next to bed. Setting the tray down, Vash walked over to the bed, hugging Meryl.

"Thank goodness you're alright!"

Meryl returned the hug. "Where are we? And where's Milly? What happened? I thought that -"

Vash placed his hand over her mouth. "Take it easy Meryl. I don't know what exactly happened. What I do know is we are in some kind of town, and on top of that..." He moved to sit down. "We're about a day's walk from the Konaha village."

Meryl blinked. "Konaha?" Didn't Hinata mention that before?"

Vash nodded. "I think that is where we should head." Meryl gave him a strange and questioning look. "We need to find Knives and the others. If that is the same place Hinata was looking for, then she'll go there."

Nodding, she looked over at the bowl that was sitting next to the bed, getting a wiff of something she didn't recognize. "What is that?"

Vash got up and grabbed the tray. "They say its call Ramen. It's supposed to be really good." Vash sat the tray down next to her. "You should try to eat."

Meryl looked at the bowl for a moment, taking a bite and then clamping her mouth shut. Her face looked like it was about to turn a deep shade of red.

"Spicy!" 


	28. Chapter 28

Mwahahaha! chapter 28 has arrived. Hope you all like. Please review.

* * *

_**Chapter 28**_

Sitting back in her seat, a woman stared at her desk, an irritated look on her face. "Geez...I have to deal with all this paper work?"

"You're the one who put it off Tsunade-sama."

Sighing, the blond woman grabbed some of the papers and started on her work.

"Granny Tsunade!"

The woman cringed as the door was flung open. "Who are you calling Granny!"

The woman standing on the left whispered. "Naruto..."

"Why are you assigning me a D-rank mission! We got to find Sasuke and Hinata!"

Tsunade stared at Naruto, his defiant face causing her to twitch angrily. "Are you arguing with my decision!" Naruto started to back up slightly. "I'm the Hokage!"

Steping up again Naruto continued to argue. "I shouldn't be wasting my time with stupid D-rank missions!"

"NARUTO!"

Several people from outside looked up at the sound, watching as a chair flew through the window of the Hokage's office. Tsunade stood furiously, a terrifying look on her face. Naruto had already left the room, a black eye present from Tsunade's amazing strenght.

"That Naruto, who does he think he is?"

"Perhaps giving him such a low rank mission was a bit much..." Tsunade switched her deadly glare to face her assistant Shizune. "Eh...or I could be wrong."

"I don't have time to send Naruto out looking for Sasuke right now."

Shizune looked at the Hokage for a moment. "You haven't told him you called off the search for Hinata!"

Sitting back down, Tsunade sighed. "There's nothing more that can be done. The Anbu have turned the area inside out and still haven't found any leads as to Orrochimaru's whereabouts. On top of that Neji is still missing as well. The Anbu still haven't found any traces as to what happened and figure he's gone off to look for Hinata on his own."

Shizune blinked a few times in thought. "You don't think he'd really do that do you?"

Tsunade leaned back against her chair. "I don't know, but if something doesn't turn up soon I'll have to consider both MIA."

* * *

Knives stopped as he looked at the large doors in front of him, leaning against the tree beside him. Neji came up behind him, still supporting Hinata.

"Is that it?"

"that's it." Neji replied.

Feeling anxious, Hinata left Neji's support and headed towards the entrance, staring at everything as though it'd been years since she'd last seen it. The two men at the gate stared at them with a look of shock. Looking up she noticed Tsunade's head had been added to the Hokage faces in the mountain.

"So she's finally been added, eh?"

The two guards watched as the three entered, Neji right behind Hinata. Looking over at the two he nodded to them. "Let the Hokage know we're back." The two glanced at them and then headed off into the city.

"So this is Konaha?" Knives said as he looked around. It doesn't seem like much."

Hinata chuckled. "Just wait till you've been here a while. It's a lot livelier than you may think."

"Let's just start one step at a time." Neji said with a sigh.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama!' the guard flew into her room, panting heavily. Both Tsunade and Shizune looked up at him. "Neji, and Hinata. They're back."

Tsunade's eyes widened. "What!"

"They're back?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Find them. I want them in my office immediately."

"Yes ma'am."

Shizune turned towards the Hokage as the man ran out of the room. "Are you sure that's a good idea? What if they're impostors?"

"That's why I want them here."

* * *

Hinata continued to glance around at everything as they walked by. It felt nice to finally be home. Several people stared at them as they walked by and she remembered it'd been almost a year since she'd been missing. Surely everyone knew what had happened by now.

"Well I hope she's not in a bad mood." Hinata said softly.

Knives tilted his head slightly. "Why?"

Neji stepped into the conversation. "Cause she has inhuman strength and a short temper."

Knives thought about this for a minute. "She's still a woman."

Hinata raised her eyebrow. "You've still got a lot to learn Knives."

Neji knocked on the door to Tsunade's office.

"Come in."

Hinata looked over at Neji. "She doesn't sound happy."

With a nod, Neji opened the door, the three of them walking in. Tsunade watched as the three walked in, her eyes growing a bit wide though she was silent. Standing in front of her were both Neji and Hinata Hyuuga; The two people who had gone missing within the last year. Her eyes narrowed slightly as an unfamiliar man walked in behind them.

Neji stepped forward. He was at a bit of a loss for words and didn't know how to explain everything that had happened over the last several months. While Neji brewed over the appropriate words to use, Hinata began to speak instead.

"I know it's hard to explain but, we're back." she grimaced a bit at how stupid she sounded.

Tsunade looked Hinata over. She used to be a very shy and quiet girl, but now she was different. Her personality seemed to have changed, and surely she was more confident. Just what could have happened to her?

"And how do I know that you are not impostors?"

Hinata simply smiled.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29 is up. I would have like to get more done tonight, but I still have some work I have to catch up on; Besides my brain could use a mental rest. I'll see how many I can add on tomorrow. Enjoy!

**_Chapter 29_**

Hinata smiled. "I suppose you don't. Not unless you know of a way to prove who we are?"

Tsunade thought about this for a moment, a very deep sigh escaping. "I believe you owe me a very long report."

Hinata nodded. "You must know however, it's going to be a very strange report."

With the hard part out of the way Neji took this time to speak up. "With your permission Tsunade-sama I would like to return to the Hyuuga Manor."

Tsunade thought about this for a moment. It was his right to return to his home. Then again if he was an imposter...She tossed that thought aside.

"Granted."

Shizune looked at her; stunned.

Hinata took this opportunity to discuss her own living arrangements. "If I may ask I would like to get a place of my own." Tsunade looked at her strangely. "I'm afraid I don't have any money right now, and I would rather not return to the Hyuuga's with Neji."

"Tsunade kept her eyes on Hinata. "I think I can set something up. What about your friend?"

Hinata blushed. "I'm sorry." She turned to face the blonde haired man. "This is a friend of mine. Knives." Tsunade raised her eyebrow at the name. "I would like a place that would cover for rooms for both of us."

Now Knives shared Tsunade's confusion. He was not expecting her to ask for something like this and stopped his train of though. Since when did he even know enough about her to predict her to begin with?

Tsunade thought hard about this. If they were imposters this could create a lot of trouble.

"You do understand that you are responsible for him correct?" Hinata nodded. "Very well. I will have something set up for you in an hour or so. In the mean time I want that report."

Neji nodded. The three of them left the office and went outside. Neji left to return to the Hyuuga's to work on his report.

"So now what?" Knives asked.

Hinata looked around. "Now we eat."

Knives followed Hinata to a small Ramen shop.

"Here?"

Hinata started in. "This place has the best ramen."

With a sigh Knives stepped inside. The man greeted them happily and took their orders. Knives let Hinata order for him since he was unfamiliar with all the different types of ramen. Hinata started to eat while Knives stared at it. It was a lot different than anything he had seen before.

On top of that he had never used chopsticks before. Carefully he toyed with the chopsticks and took a small bite; His hair feeling like it was standing on end. Quickly he grabbed a drink.

"That's spicy!" he turned to look at Hinata. "How can you eat that stuff?"

She stopped. "Hm?" She thought for a moment. "That's right you aren't used to spicy foods are you?"

Knives slid his bowl towards Hinata. After she finished his bowl they left and went to another restaurant. The next place they stopped at, Hinata ordered again, but this time the food seemed a little more tolerable. Pulling out the small pocket change that Neji had given to her a while ago she paid for the meal, and then they left.

"Interesting ideas of food." Knives commented.

"The same could be said about where you're from."

A barking sound came to Hinata's ears, a smile forming as she turned around. A large dog was heading straight for her.

"Akamaru! Hey, Akamaru!" a voice called. "Where are you going?"

The voice stopped when he looked at the large dog. With a blush Hinata waved to Kiba.

"Hey! Shino!" Slowly he walked up to Akamaru. He definitely recognized her.

A man came from around the corner. "What's with all the commotion?"

Knives simply stood there with a bit of shock on his face.

"Shino it's Hinata!" Kiba smiled a bright smile. "Hinata! When did you get here?" he stopped for a moment. "How did you get back? And what happened to ya?"

Hinata simply blushed. This was uncommon for her in Knives view. "It's a really long story." she said as she pet Akamaru.

"We have plenty of time." Kiba said energetically.

Hinata's blush disappeared quickly. "Actually I need to go and see Tsunade about something important."

Knives watched her with interest.

"You've been gone for a while. You should share what's been going on with your teammates."

Hinata backed up slightly. "I'm actually pretty tired; I should go see Tsunade so that I can get some rest." Knives started to speak up but Hinata beat him to it. "We should get going." She grabbed Knives wrist and started towards the Hokage's building.

"Hinata!" Kiba called. "What was that all about?"

"..."


	30. Chapter 30

Sorry I didn't get anything up yesterday but here's chapter 30. Please enjoy.

_**Chapter 30**_

Hinata stopped running when they were near the Hokage building. Knives yanked his wrist away from her, and gave her a dark glare. In his opinion that was very strange for her, and he didn't quite like it.

"Don't even say it." Hinata warned him.

"Say what?"

Hinata looked at him. "I'm not ready to discuss it with them."

Knives face turned to one of curiosity. "Discuss what?"

Hinata rolled her eyes and went into the building. Knives stood there thinking. What had he missed? After a moment he slapped himself hard mentally. He shouldn't have even needed to ask that. With all that had been going on he forgot about the one person he shouldn't have forgotten about. Orrochimaru.

Slowly Knives walked up to Tsunade's office. What was with him lately? He was never the type to just forget things. He stopped suddenly. It was like he was starting to turn into a human. He shook it off furiously. There was no way. He would not become like his brother.

Knives stopped suddenly, unsure if he wanted to go any further.

"Naruto!"

A man came rushing from the room and right past him. Looking at the door he could see Tsunade. and took a step back. Her look made him uncomfortable.

Tsunade sighed. "Hinata already left. She has the keys to your apartment."

Shutting the door, Knives just stood there. When did she leave? He didn't see her anywhere in the hallways. Grumbling slightly he started back down the stairs. This kind of thing could get annoying. Stepping out of the doorway he looked around. He had no idea where she was, or where he should go.

Shrugging his shoulders he decided to walk around for a little while.

Hinata stepped into the apartment. It was a nice looking place, but empty. She looked at the pouch of money Tsunade had given her. She had already picked up enough food to last them a little while, so now she needed to get some furniture for the place.

"I probably should just save the money." she looked around. "It's livable and we have beds."

"Is that all you want in your home?"

Hinata whirled around. Kiba stood only a few feet away. "What are you doing here?"

Kiba started to walk forward. "Just thought I would try to catch up on some things with my teammate." he looked at the apartment. "You seem like you're avoiding us."

Hinata tried to think quickly; she did not want to talk about her time with Orrochimaru. She came up with many ideas, but all of them seemed to have a few too many flaws.

"I'm just not up to talking."

Kiba turned from the apartment and stared straight at Hinata. "I already talked to Neji." Hinata took a deep breath and prayed that Kiba might change his mind. "He told us about some of what happened." she could feel her chest tightening. Kiba started walking away, and then stopped. "We are your friends. You can talk to us any time."

Kiba left while Hinata stood there. "I know that, but nows not the time."

Knives stopped in front of a small clothing shop. Looking at some of the styles they had, and what he had, he decided to go in. There were many different outfits in this store but none of the styles seemed to suit his preference. Leaving the store he tried to think how long it had been since he left the Hokage building. He was sure he had been wondering around for at least two hours.

"I've been looking for you."

Knives looked up. Hinata was sitting on the roof of one of the shops. She had a strange grin on her face that Knives was not familiar with. Jumping down, Hinata looked at the shop that Knives had just come out of, and then eyed Knives.

"You won't find anything that would look good on you here." Hinata stated. "Come on, I'll take you to a better place."

Quickly Hinata grabbed Knives wrist and headed down the street. Knives had tried to speak but she had left no room for arguments. It didn't take too long till Hinata stopped in front of another store.

"Here."

Knives looked at the store, then at her. Shrugging his shoulders he walked inside and took a look around. He had to hand it to her; it definitely had a better selection. He found a dark blue shirt that caught his attention. Examining it he decided that it was a good material.

With the shirt in hand he headed up to the counter then stopped. He had no money. Turning around to put the shirt back, he ran face to face with Hinata.

"Did you find anything?" looking down Hinata spotted the shirt. "I'll take care of it."

Knives started to stutter as she walked off with the shirt to pay for it. What had gotten into her all of a sudden? She was always so serious, and never this carefree. It made no sense to him at all. Would she continue to act like this for long? Knives thoughts began to grow frantic. If she did would she stop his training?

His thoughts were cut off by Hinata telling him that they were ready to go. On their way to the apartment Knives tried to make some sense of what was going on.

Hinata had other thoughts on her mind. Although a smile was present on her face darker thoughts weaved a path through her mind.


	31. Chapter 31

Ok, time for chapter 31. I made it this far already? xD

_**Chapter 31**_

Knives walked into the apartment and looked around. It was nothing special, just a basic layout with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms. He gave it a dissatisfied look then went to investigate the rooms.

"I know it's not much but we can work on that. Tsunade did give me extra money but I figured we would decide on something together since we will both have to live with it."

Knives did not reply. Since both of the rooms looked about the same he picked one and closed the door. Hinata took the hint and left him be. A knock came at the door, and she answered it quickly.

"You...?"

Knives had been in no mood to talk while his mind worked. About an hour later he decided to leave his room. When he got to the living room he realized that there was no one there. He checked the kitchen, and then went to knock on her door. There was no answer. Slowly he opened it to peer in side.

"She's not here?" Knives returned to the kitchen as he thought. Why would she leave without telling him? He stopped. That was a dumb question. What reason did she have to have to tell him where she went? His eyes glanced to the counter and he caught something white sitting there.

_Had something important to do, will_

_be back some time soon. There _

_is food available if you get hungry._

_ Hinata_

He set the paper down. What could she be doing that's so important? Ignoring it, he looked through the kitchen till he decided on something to eat. When he was done he looked out the window. It was getting dark now and he decided to step outside. The village was quite different then what he was used to.

With a sigh he went to his room, and laid there with a sigh. Out the window he could see a storm starting. Rain fell harshly while the storm raged on outside when he heard the door open. Moving to the living room he could see Hinata in the kitchen. She was drenched.

"You should change into something dry." Knives said calmly.

Hinata didn't seem to hear him. She seemed somewhat out of it, and strange. Slowly Knives walked into the kitchen. She looked almost like a ghost. He started to step forward when Hinata quickly left the kitchen and into her room. Knives had only made it to the living room when the door was shut and locked.

He looked out the window. The storm was still raging violently. "Something tells me this is just the beginning." Without wasting any more time Knives went to his room, making sure to lock his own door. Sitting down he looked at his gun. With everything that had been going on he hadn't even had time to polish his gun. He searched his pockets then frowned. He no longer had any polish with him.

Setting his gun down on the dresser in the room he stared at its form. "Seems like you're becoming increasingly useless to me around here." He pulled out a kunai. "To think I've been reduced to such a simple weapon as this."

Sliding the kunai under his pillow he decided he would try to get some rest.

When morning came Hinata was already out at the table eating breakfast when Knives awoke. She seemed like she was still distant, but a little livelier. He decided it would be best to keep his distance as well. The silence was broken quite quickly when a knock came at the door.

Knives followed Hinata to the door. He seemed a little surprised when a person wearing a mask was behind the door. He wore a black cloak and carried a kind of awkward feeling around him.

"Hinata Hyuuga, I need you to come with me."

"I thought this was already resolved." Hinata said with slight defiance. The masked man did not answer her. Sighing she turned to face Knives. "I'll be back later. Stay here."

Without another word she was gone, and Knives was once again left with no clue as to what was going on.

* * *

Vash sat down on a rock near him. He was tired, and the storm last night didn't help. He had never seen a storm like that before, and Meryl had taken to it a lot worse than he had. Looking over at her he could tell she was in a very bad mood. She seemed as though she would snap at the single wrong word he might pick.

Once he and Meryl had caught their breath they continued on further. The man at the hotel was kind enough to give them a map to Konaha. Vash sighed. They were still at least two hours away from the village.

"Maybe we should rest longer." Vash said carefully.

"I don't want to stay out here." Meryl hissed.

Vash shut up instantly. He did not want to get into a fight with Meryl over something foolish. He thought about their arrival in Konaha. They would find Knives and Hinata, and get them situated with a nice place to say with a strong roof.

* * *

Neji walked into the Hokage's building. He had already submitted his report, and now would come the hard part. He would be asked to fill in the countless gray areas of his story. Unfortunately it wasn't just something he could find a way of writing, but something he could not explain at all.

"She'll probably look at me as though I'm crazy." Neji said to himself.

Looking up ,he noticed there were a lot of Anbu in the building. As he passed some of them he started to become a little concerned.

"eight. Nine. Ten. Ten Anbu." Neji checked his surroundings. "eleven. No. Twelve Anbu."

Neji did his best to keep his heart at a steady pace. This many Anbu must mean there's trouble. He walked into Tsunade's office, and then stopped to look at the Anbu standing in front of her desk. _Thirteen?_


	32. Chapter 32

Ok next chapter. Hope you all enjoy.

_**Chapter 32**_

Neji walked into the small room and Tsunade eyed him strangely.

"You called for me?"

"Yes I did. I reviewed your report, and it seemed to be...missing some details." Neji did not respond. "Given the state of your report, I decided it was best to form an investigation."

"So that's why the Anbu are here."

"Exactly. Unfortunately some of our information is still coming up a little short."

"Information?" Neji's anger began to boil. "Hinata!"

"Relax, Hinata is fine." the Anbu stated. "She has been confirmed as the real Hinata Hyuuga, so there is no reason to worry."

"So I'm next then, right?" Neji said as he tried to control his temper.

"I would like to ask you something beforehand." Tsunade said with a serious tone. Neji did not respond. "Do you feel it is safe to trust the man Knives as Hinata has?"

Neji thought about this. He was indeed different, and at times seemed very dangerous. It reminded him a lot of Naruto. "I feel he should at least be monitored for a little while, but I do feel her trust was not misplaced."

It wasn't till late that afternoon that Hinata returned to the apartment. Knives had stayed in his room all day grumbling things about how he would make her pay for taking off like that, and what happened to training him. Hinata did not say anything to him all evening.

Knives did not last long with this. He decided he would go out into the village and look around more. It was better than staying with her. When he returned she was already in bed sleeping and Knives decided to simply do the same. He was awoken rudely the next morning when the window was opened and the sun was poured down on him.

"What the hell!"

"Wake up, we got work to do."

Grumbling Knives got his shirt on and went to the kitchen. He was interrupted by Hinata who started pulling him towards the door.

"Late sleepers don't get breakfast."

"What are you talking about!" Knives spat as he was drug out the door.

In only a few minutes they were in a grassy clearing that looked like it was used for training. Hinata let go of his wrist, and then turned to face him.

"You wanted training, now we really do things my way."

Knives raised his eyebrow. "One minute you're happy, and then pissed; now you want to train me? Make up your mind already."

"It's nothing you need to worry about, now we work more on your skills with taijutsu."

"Hope you learn quickly cause I won't go easy on you." Neji said as he entered the clearing.

Knives looked at him, then at Hinata. "He's training me?"

Hinata smiled. "No. He's testing you."

Knives eyes widen with a sudden feeling of what might have been fear. "Testing me?"

Neji grinned. "It's a test. If you pass Tsunade-sama will agree to let your training continue."

A dark look fell over Knives face. "And if I don't pass."

"Then I have to quite training you." Hinata spoke up.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Knives was getting really confused. "Who decided this, and when!"

"I did." Tsunade said as she also entered the clearing. "Yesterday."

Knives was starting to get mad now. He turned his attention to Hinata. "And you didn't even tell me about this!"

"I was not allowed to."

"And who decided that!"

"I made that call." Knives turned to look at Tsunade. "You are to fight against Neji. Depending upon what he decides, and my final decision on the matter, we will discuss your training."

"Discuss my training! What is there to discuss!"

Hinata answered this question. "Knives. If you pass this test, you have the opportunity to get a Jounin to train you. They will be able to improve your skills."

Knives started to let this thought sink in. "I didn't say I wanted someone else to train me."

Tsunade put her hand on her hip. "You would rather Hinata finished your training?"

"As a matter of fact I would." Knives spat angrily.

Tsunade grinned. "Then you'll just have to beat Neji now won't you?"

Turning to face Neji, Knives wondered what he was getting himself into. He was most definitely more experienced, and that did not seem to be a welcoming thought in Knives mind. He tried to think of some way around this, but knew by their rules, he would lose.

"Fine. I guess I will just have to beat him then won't I."

Neji smiled with delight. _Good. Hinata puts just a little too much faith in you._

Tsunade stepped forward. "It's decided then. Neji, and Knives, this is a serious fight. I will intervene should I find that the outcome of the battle is obvious. Know that death can occur in this fight."

Knives pulled out a kunai. "Yeah yeah yeah. Just start this damned test already.

Tsunade laughed. "As you wish. Hinata."

Both Tsunade and Hinata left from the immediate area leaving only Knives and Neji face to face. Both of them had only one goal in mind. Victory.


	33. Chapter 33

Sorry bout taking so long, but I've had a lot going on so I didn't get to put out the last couple I've been working on. Here goes chapter 33. I hope all you readers out there are enjoying the story.

**_Chapter 33_**

Both Knives and Neji were face to face with each other. Knives held a kunai in his hand, while Neji prepared his stance for the gentle fist style. Looking over each other, they seemed to evaluate the best course of action.

Knives ran through a list of his equipment. He was very grateful he kept all his things in his pouch. He had a few kunai, some shurikin, string, and a few exploding tags. He was not as well prepared for this as he would have liked. He took his time and thought of what all Hinata had already taught him.

He had mastered the clone jutsu, as well as the transformation. His only real hope was in his taijutsu.

Hinata stood a little ways away, worry building inside her. "Are you sure this is a good idea. I'm not sure he's ready for this."

"Do you have that little faith in your student Hinata?"

She thought about this. Knives had progressed quite quickly. She would have to hope that it was enough. "Yes I do Tsunade-sama."

Neji was looking over Knives as he put away his kunai and took a stance similar to Neji's. He looked his entire body and posture over. He was pretty good. His arms were not too high, or low, and he seemed sturdy. Hinata had done well in her training from what it seemed. Now he would have to test what he could do with that knowledge.

"I'm not holding back on you."

Without another word, Neji moved for a frontal attack. Knives bent his knees slightly, and readied himself for the attack. Neji was swift, and fluent with his attacks. He went from one, to another without much thought. Knives moved to dodge the attacks, and cursed as he was forced to jump back, barely missing being hit in his shoulder.

"He's got good speed." Neji said to himself. "His reaction time isn't too bad for someone without the Byakugan."

Taking deep breaths, Knives looked at Neji. He was pretty quick, a little quicker than he had expected. Deciding now was not the time to hold back, he made for an attack taking a head on approach just as he had done. Neji dodged, and blocked with ease.

Hinata watched with amazement, her eyes growing wide. Knives had moved so smoothly that she had not even seen him pull the kunai from the pouch and slicing the air right in front of Neji's face. _I'm pretty sure I didn't teach him that._

Neji jumped back, a look of uncertainty on his face. "When the hell did he draw that?" He replayed the fight in his mind.

Knives had struck at him from the front, a direct attack at his chest. He had moved, and dodged. The next attack came from the right, then another from the front. While Neji had blocked this attack Knives had slid his body to the right, and then the Kunai was just barely visible as it swung toward him, barely missing.

"It must of been then." Neji looked at his opponent. He was now holding the kunai at his side. _His move was so swift and hidden. I would have never expected he was at this level._

Hinata stood next to Tsunade with a wide grin on her face. _Incredible. He's taken my teaching and used what knowledge and ideas he had to mix them together and make them more deadly. If Neji had been only a couple of seconds too late, he wouldn't have survived that attack. _

"Damn it." Knives looked down at his kunai. "I guess I can't pull off that trick again. Unfortunately I don't have too many of those tricks up my sleeve just yet."

Reaching into his pouch Knives pulled out the shirikin. Moving towards the left, he threw the shirikin then the kunai. Neji dodged those, and then blocked Knives direct attack. Again they battled against each other before separating once more. This went on for some time before Knives began to tire.

He was not used to doing this for such long periods. Neji moved to attack him, and Knives blocked, but was not quick enough. Neji's attack went straight to his left arm. Cursing Knives moved back. This was an awkward feeling for him. His arm hung limply at his side.

"Tch. Now how am I supposed to beat him?"

_It seems Neji will win this after all._ Tsunade focused her eyes on Knives. _For a while I thought he might have had a chance to actually beat him._

"Now to finish this." Neji said as he began his final attack.

Knives dodged as much as possible, but was slowing down. He cursed when Neji landed a blow in his stomach, but was able to back away quick enough that it didn't do too much damage. Kneeling down on one knee, Knives tried to catch his breath.

Neji, however, was not going to let up. He moved in swiftly for a final blow.

"Neji stop!" Tsunade called, but he did not stop.

Knives swore as Neji moved in for the attack. He could not move.

_Hinata may trust you but to be perfectly honest, I don't._ He drew back his arm and struck his opponent.


	34. Chapter 34

Sorry to take so long getting this up but here at last is chapter 34. Hope you all enjoy.

_**Chapter 34**_

Neji froze, his eyes wide.

Hinata stood in front of Knives, her feet planted firmly into the ground, her arms crossed in front of her for protection. Neji's hand was against her right arm. When he pulled his arm away, she slowly let her arms drop a little. A strange look covered her face.

Neji was unsure how to describe the look on her face. He swallowed at the thought that he may have just turned her into an enemy.

"Tsunade said that was enough." Hinata said with a cold voice. Her eyes were bearing down on him with great intensity. "Did you intend to kill him?"

Knives looked up at Hinata, then at Neji. Was he really trying to kill him? The thought made him feel sick. It wasn't that someone had such intentions, that wasn't it at all. It was the fact that he knew this person was able to defeat him and accomplish such a goal.

Neji turned his head, and thought quickly. "I was only testing him. I figured since you trained him that he would still have some fight left in him."

Hinata kept her eyes on him. She had seen that look on his face before. The same one he had during the chuunin exam when they fought. Only when Tsunade made her approach did Hinata lower her defenses. Turning to face Knives she checked to make sure there were no serious wounds.

"Well Neji, what do you think?" Tsunade asked him. "Should he continue training?"

Neji thought about this with deep thought. When he had answered her before in her office he had wanted an excuse to be able to fight him. Now if he answered the same it would go against what he truly felt. What if he trained? Could he find another excuse to fight him? More likely than making him a simple citizen.

Neji grinned as though nothing had just happened. "He's got potential."

Without another word Neji left. Hinata watched him with concern. What reason could he have to want to kill Knives? _What are you thinking Neji?_

"Well, from what I saw I would have to agree."

Hinata looked up with surprise. With all the unknowns around them, she had expected Tsunade to do quite the opposite. Clearly she had missed some important events that transpired in the hidden leaf village. Since there was nothing left to be said she returned to her office.

Both Knives and Hinata were left alone to decipher what had just occurred.

"Was that really a test?" Knives questioned with irritability. "Cause if so it was a little too simple of one."

Hinata raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you should be asking that considering you lost." she stood up. "Besides, if you want to change it so badly then why don't you work your way up to Hokage?"

"I think I'd rather not."

Hinata reached out a hand to help Knives up. Taking it he stood up and steadied himself. His arm still laid limply at his side.

Returning to the apartment, both of them sat down to lunch.

* * *

Vash stared around him as he looked at the hidden leaf village which he had just stepped into. Meryl was doing the same. The thing that really caught their attention were the faces carved into the mountain.

"So how do we find your brother?" Meryl asked with concern as she looked around her.

"Perhaps we could start by asking someone?" Vash said with a slightly carefree tone to his voice. He scouted out the people around him. His eyes came to rest with a man near a restaurant with a large dog. "Hey...you with the dog."

Kiba turned around to see the man calling him. In his opinion he was wearing a very strange outfit.

"Um...excuse me; have you seen a man named Knives?" Kiba gave him a confused look. "Uh...he's about as tall as me...with lighter and shorter blonde hair."

"You wouldn't happen to be talking about the guy with Hinata would you?"

Vash's eyes light up. "That would be him."

Kiba smiled "Yeah, he's around here somewhere, uh..."

"They should be at the apartment." came a slightly venomous voice. "Considering the fight this morning they're probably resting."

Vash's face seemed to lose its spark. "The fight?"

The man with long hair turned slightly. "Ask him about it."

Getting up he left from the restaurant while Kiba gave them instructions to get to the apartment.

While they made their way to the apartment Vash looked at all the stores, restaurants and general buildings around them. Everywhere he looked he could see something new, and it was so hard to hide his excitement. When they reached the apartment, he knocked on the door.


	35. Chapter 35

Well here's chapter 35. Haven't really decided how long I'm going to make it just yet. Enjoy.

**_Chapter 35_**

Hinata looked up from her conversation with Knives as she heard the knock at the door. Getting up she went to open the door; Shock covered her face at the person outside.

"Vash?" Knives eyes moved toward the door. "What are you doing here?" she thought for a moment. "How did you get here?"

"That's kinda hard to explain." He looked past Hinata to the man now standing behind her. He looked angry. "Hi."

Knives turned from the doorway and returned to his seat in the living room. Hinata guided them in, and offered them a seat on the couch where she had been sitting. Knives looked at her with a growing wish to strangle her for letting them in.

All together they discussed what had been going on, and what they last remembered during the fighting. Hinata sat back in the chair she had moved from the kitchen, her eyes wondering over each of them. _Why here? What purpose could there be for all of them being here?_

She closed her eyes. She could not figure out what was going on. Why would these people need to be here? Opening her eyes she looked at Vash. What if he asked her to train him as well? What would happen then? She needed some time to think. Getting up she headed towards the door.

"Hinata?" Knives questioned with a slight plea to not leave him alone to deal with Vash.

She turned to look at him. She could tell he had no interest in talking to his brother. She thought for a moment. "Actually we should be starting your training." a smile crossed his face. "Won't you two wait here till we get back?"

A slight scowl crossed Knives face, but Vash seemed to miss it. "How long will you be?"

"We'll be a few hours, but there is food in the house. Feel free to make something if you get hungry."

Opening the door Hinata left the apartment with Knives on her heels. By the time they got to the training grounds they both seemed a little more relaxed.

"When are you going to talk to him?"

"If I can help it...never." Knives replied.

"Why?"

"Cause I don't want to."

Hinata scowled a little. "You should talk to him, he is your brother."

Knives grumbled under his breath. "I didn't come out here to get lectured by you."

"No you didn't you came to train, and that's what we are going to do." Hinata pulled out a kunai and tossed it towards Knives. "Why don't we work on your weapon skills."

"That's fine."

It was about four hours later that they came into the apartment. Meryl lay sleeping on the couch while Vash was sitting at the kitchen table. Vash looked at both of them with his mouth open wide. There outfits were torn in quite a few places and they had some cuts and bruises.

"What happened to you!"

"We were training." Knives replied while he headed towards his room.

Vash looked over at Hinata. "Just how are you training?"

She looked at him with a cold look. "My way." she walked to the kitchen to grab something to eat. "You can stay here tonight. Tomorrow you should try to go back home."

"I came here to find Knives..."

"You found him, now go home."

"I need to talk to him about something." Vash stated calmly.

"I can't help you."

"So you're just going to toss us out?"

Hinata thought as she fixed her meal.

* * *

Knives was moving fast as their kunai collided again and again. Pushing back, both Hinata and Knives looked at each other.

"I really think you two should talk."

"I said to drop it!"

Knives rushed after Hinata, but she evaded his attacks with ease.

"Why? Why can't you two get along with each other?"

"I told you it's none of your business!"

They pushed against each other again and again only causing a few scratches here and there. Both of them were beginning to get tired now.

"You can't avoid him if he's staying with us, it's..."

Hinata stopped cold. Knives had suddenly picked up speed she was not aware of, and was now standing in front of her, his kunai laying next to her throat. He spoke, and when he did his voice was colder than normal.

"I don't want him staying. I don't care where he goes as long as he leaves."

* * *

"The only thing I can do is talk to Tsunade about finding you a place, but I can't guarantee anything." Hinata said as she sat at the table. "If she can find you a place, you will have to find work, and it's not that easy considering you are unfamiliar with things around here."

"What pays a good bit?"

Hinata looked at him. "If you're looking for a high paying job, it would be taking on Ninja missions."

An awful silence filled the room.


	36. Chapter 36

**_Chapter 36_**

It's been four months since Hinata and Knives had come to Konaha. Knives skills as a ninja were growing at a rapid pace, and at the same time, some of his cold darker personality was beginning to melt away. Both Hinata and Knives had been on a few small missions but nothing real major.

While they had been training, Vash and Meryl had acquired a place of their own with the help of Hinata and the Hokage. Vash had gone through several different jobs until he settled down with helping rebuild a section of the village.

Meryl had spent her time learning about flowers from a girl named Ino. After a few months, Ino had decided to hire Meryl to help with the shop.

All in all things were going well. As long as Knives made sure he was as far from Vash as possible he was fine. This little problem, however, seemed to really bug Hinata.

After a long day of training, Hinata and Knives returned to the apartment for a late dinner. She took this opportunity to discuss a dangerous topic.

"I'm going to talk to Tsunade about adding two more people to make a team."

"Why?"

"Well...you are ready to take on higher level missions."

"So why do we need other people?"

Hinata bit her lip. She had a feeling he was going to be like this. "Cause most missions are done in a team of three. Four if you include the team leader."

"Knives looked up at her from his meal. "I don't need them."

"That doesn't matter. Tsunade won't send you on any higher level missions till you are part of a team.

"Fine."

Hinata started to speak then stopped. "What did you say?"

Knives picked up his bowl. "I said fine."

Hinata blinked her eyes closed for a minute, then opened them. Knives didn't look any different. She had expected him to be more difficult than this. Since when did he change so much. Shrugging it off, Hinata stood up.

"Well then I'm going to go ahead and talk to her tomorrow." Knives did not respond. "I will be late for practice then."

Knives turned towards her. "I figured that."

With a scowl on her face Hinata got up and returned to her room. Grumbling as she closed the door she flopped down on her bed. He was still a bit of an ass, but not like he used to be.

"I must be crazy." Hinata rolled over to her other side. "He won't pass Tsunade's test if she agrees to put him on a team."

She closed her eyes and let sleep overcome her. The last several months had been crazy and to top it off, there had not been any information on Orrochimaru either. What would she do if they did find him anyway? Her mind started whirling with the dark thoughts she had been so sure had disappeared. New thoughts seemed to work their way into the weaved path that had been working hard in her subconscious.

When the sun rose, Knives was already dressed and eating breakfast, however Hinata had been up much earlier than that. Sitting at the table he waited for several hours till she returned. Knives heard a knock on the door. Getting up he pulled out his kunai and moving his arm towards his back. Hinata had taught him to do this as a precaution a while ago.

"Hello?" Knives said as he opened the door.

"Is Hinata here?"

Knives looked at the woman, and then slid his kunai away. He had already come to learn that he could trust her as Hinata did.

"No she's not Kuranai."

"Do you know where she went?"

"She said she was going to go talk to the Hokage."

"I see. Thank you."

Closing the door, Knives decided to return to his room. As he sat, he looked around his room. He had found a few knickknacks that had sparked his interest when he was in town, but most of what he had was his weapons that he had learned to use.

He looked into a furthest corner and pulled out his gun. He hadn't had much time to polish it recently. Grabbing his tools he began to clean the unused gun that had been left to lie in his room. As he checked it, then polished it again, he thought about all that he had been through.

As his thought went to work, he remembered bits of his past on the seeds ship and immediately left his thoughts to look around his room again. He did not want to think about Vash. He was actually happy here. Even though he was around humans it didn't bother him as much. He was in a world now where he could solve problems his own way.

The door opened, then closed, and Knives immediately laid his gun down and stepped out into the living room. Hinata was moving around the kitchen fixing herself a meal.

"I talked with her." Hinata said calmly.

"And?"

"She has a group she would like to add you too." she stopped. "That is IF you are ready for their level."

Knives gave her a dark look. "What's with this IF?"

"The two she is thinking about are quite strong, and can handle A rank missions." Knives just folded his arms over his chest. "One of them isn't exactly the easiest for someone like you to get along with."

"And what does that mean?"

Hinata sat her bowl of ramen down on the table. "It means either you'll learn teamwork real quick, or you'll be spending the rest of your life taking D rank missions."

He raised his eyebrow. "You've got to be joking."

"I'm not, and neither is Tsunade." Hinata started to eat. "We practice in an hour."


	37. Chapter 37

_**Chapter 37**_

Knives and Hinata trained vigorously through the next week's time till Hinata was certain that he was ready. After speaking with Tsunade she decided to assign Knives to the team with a ninja of her choice to monitor Knives. After the discussion was over, Hinata returned to the apartment.

"So now what's going on?" Knives asked as he started to eat lunch. "When will we be going on another mission?"

"We won't be." Hinata said calmly. "You and your team will have a mission soon.

Knives stopped cold. "Me and my team?"

"Tsunade decided she was going to have another person in charge of the team."

"I didn't agree to this."

Hinata looked up. "You are forgetting your place around here. Tsunade is in charge." Knives grumbled to himself. "You don't like it you become Hokage."

He returned to his lunch to avoid the topic. He did not like being on a team with people he did not know well. This was going to be a complication. Maybe if he talked to Tsunade himself he could arrange something different.

Hinata seemed to be waiting for this thought to occur though. She picked up the bowl and headed for the kitchen. "You would be best not to argue with her or you might find things getting worse then better. If all goes well I will be able to join the team."

Knives did not respond.

It wasn't for another three days that Tsunade called for Knives to come to her office. As he entered her office he heard a man yelling about her being unreasonable. When he looked up he saw a blonde haired man turn to face him. Next to him there was a girl with short pink hair.

"Knives, come in." Tsunade motioned for him. "I would like you to meet your new teammates." Knives turned to look at the two. "This is Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura."

Naruto gave him a strange look then folded his arms. "No way." Tsunade narrowed her eyes but Naruto ignored her. "Sasuke's the third member of team seven."

Tsunade sat back in her chair. "If you don't want missions then fine. I will place him with another team."

Naruto looked at her, and knew that there was no way around this; however he still did not like it. He turned toward Knives. "This is only temporary you hear."

This time Knives folded his arms against his chest. "That's perfectly fine with me."

"Well then if there are no more complaints I have a mission for the three of you." Tsunade began. "I want you to scout an area near the waterfall village." She looked at the three of them. "There is a possibility that Orrochimaru has been in this area recently."

Their attention was now completely on Tsunade.

"It's only a routine scout mission. Gather some information and return to the village." She directed her attention to Naruto. "That means you do not pursue any extra information on their whereabouts. Do I make myself clear?"

Naruto began to grumble under his breath. "Fine."

"I expect you to be back in a couple of days. Knives is new to these types of missions so I expect you two to take care of him, and set a good example."

Knives rolled his eyes. "I'm not some kid."

The door opened quickly and all of their attention was turned toward the new comer.

"Sorry to take so long, I'm not late am I?"

Naruto's face lit up. "Kakashi-sensai!"

Tsunade sighed deeply, then preceded to fill him in on the mission. Once she was done the four of them left her office. It was only an hour later that they met up at the village entrance. Knives folded his arms impatiently.

"Can we get going yet?"

Naruto glared at him. "We'll go when Kakashi-sensai says so!" Knives rolled his eyes.

"Sorry to make you all wait." came a voice from behind. "Kakashi-sensai thank you for waiting up for me."

Kakashi put his hand behind his head. "It's not a big deal Hinata; we still have a little time anyway."

Knives looked at her funny. "Why are you here?"

Hinata stepped toward him and pulled him aside. "You forgot something." she held out her hand to show his gun which he had left in his room.

"I thought you said I wouldn't be able to use this?"

Hinata smiled. "Sometimes a fib here and there will help a person get stronger." she dropped her smile. "In all honesty as long as you save that as a last resort and don't let the enemy see it twice it can be a real lifesaver." Hinata looked directly into his eyes. "Don't try to use it more than once on a single enemy or they will be ready for it. Even if it's new to our world Ninja are good at figuring things out. A second attempt will get you killed."

Knives gave her a small smile. "Like I would waste my shots."

"Just remember, you only have so many, so unless you know how to make your own bullets you're limited on its use."

"Right."

Hinata started walking away, and then stopped. "Just do me a favor, and don't die out there." she turned to look at him. "I've invested a lot of time on you."

"Right."

Knives, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi began their journey out of the village, and out of sight. Hinata watched till they disappeared, her concern growing stronger. She was not sure why but she felt as though she might not see any of them again.

"If it hadn't been for this bad feeling I have I would never have given you your gun." she looked up at the sky. "I hope you don't have to use it even once."


	38. Chapter 38

Hey, I got another chapter up. Sorry it's taken me so long, but I've had a lot going on. I'll try to upload more frequently. Enjoy!

_**Chapter 38**_

It was after three days from Knives mission starting that trouble began brewing. A letter came in to Tsunade stating that a person who seemed to match that of Kabuto had been spotted in the area. Immediately Tsunade rounded up Hinata, Kiba, and Shino to go after team seven.

A few days from their reach, however, Naruto and the others were resting by a camp fire. Originally they were supposed to be in a village on the outskirts of the waterfall village, however, their trip had not gone quite as planned.

Naruto and Knives were not getting along at all. Unfortunately for Naruto he had not gotten to punch Knives like he had wanted to. Knives skills when it came to speed were much faster than Naruto's, and he ended up flat on his face. After about the fifth time Kakashi was able to put a stop to their bickering, but it had put them behind by about an hour.

The group sat around the fire discussing their next course of action while Sakura kept her eyes on the two men who refused to go near the other unless they intended to beat the crap out of the other.

"Is everyone clear on what's going on?" Kakashi asked. Naruto, Sakura, and Knives nodded. "Good. We will leave at dawn."

When morning came, everyone was packed, and ready to move. It wasn't till closer to lunch time that Hinata and her group was able to catch up to their camp. Hinata bent down to look at the charred sticks that were part of the fire.

"We're still a good ways from them." she stood up. "We need to pick up the speed."

With a nod from the other two members of her team they continued further towards the Waterfall village's territory.

Knives looked around at the scenery as they walked through the small town. It was very similar to the Leaf village, but also had some of its own uniqueness to it.

"So where do we start looking?" he asked as they stopped in front of an Inn.

"We aren't 'looking', we're observing." Sakura said with a sigh.

Getting rooms for all of them, Kakashi started up the steps. Handing a key to each of them, he whispered directions quietly.

"We will watch the outside from our rooms for today. If nothing turns up we will move on to a different area."

"Why from here?" Naruto asked.

"We need to conceal ourselves as best as we can." Kakashi replied. When no one else spoke he continued. "We will meet for dinner in about two hours."

Leaving for his own room, Kakashi left the three of them to set up their own rooms. Tossing his bag down Knives walked over to the window. He had waited a while to drop what little of a mask he was able to wear. He had learned a lot since he had come here, and one of them was masking what emotions he did have, and what he was thinking.

Knives looked down at the people in the streets. He felt as though something big was going to happen. His entire body started to clench tightly at the thought. Whatever this feeling was it was strong, and it actually made him feel...afraid. Moving back to his bag he pulled out his gun.

"It doesn't feel right." Knives said to himself. _I shouldn't have this here. Why would she give it to me?_ It was strange for the weapon he had had at his side for so long to feel so out of place. He bolted up as a loud blast filled his ears.

Stuffing the gun back in his bag, Knives left the room quickly. There was smoke still floating in the hallway from the blast. Looking up he could see Kakashi, and Sakura leaving their rooms and heading out into the city. Cursing he followed after them.

When he was clear of the smoke Knives tried to see what was going on. There were four people ahead of him. Sakura, Kakashi, and Naruto were among them. The three were chasing the fourth man who he couldn't quite make out. Picking up his speed Knives tried to catch up with Kakashi. It took a lot of his chakra to accomplish his goal.

"What happened?" Knives asked.

"I think we were spotted." Kakashi said calmly.

"We haven't been here that long!" Knives replied.

"That doesn't matter." Sakura replied. "We stick out very easily; we were probably spotted when we were in the streets."

"We need to hurry; I don't think Naruto can handle this alone." Kakashi said as he picked up his speed.

The chase continued well into the forest, and it wasn't till they were a good ways away that the man stopped. Naruto kept his distance when he stopped, and it only took a minute for the others to appear.

"You guys are pretty good." the man said as he smiled. "I think I am going to have fun."

"Who are you?" Kakashi asked.

"Homaru. I'm here by Orrochimaru's request."

Naruto scowled. "Where's Sasuke?"

"No idea." Homaru turned to face Naruto. "But if I did I wouldn't tell some cocky kid like you."

"Bastard!"

Naruto started to charge at Homaru but Kakashi stepped in his way. "Don't lose your cool."

"So then, which of you will I take on first, or will you all come for me?" Homaru said as a dark grin covered his face. "None of you have the strength to take me."

"Ha." Knives said as he stepped forward. "We'll see about that."

Sakura looked at him with worry. "Knives are you sure..."

Knives put up his hand. "I want to see what he's got. Besides...from what I've been told you three are above my skills at this point, which means you will have a better chance against him if you can see what he can do."

Making his stance in the gentle fist style Knives smiled.

Kakashi looked at Knives with interest. _His form is good, and he's been trained well, but without the Byakuugan he can't use it to its potential_

Knives made the first attack, thrusting his left hand towards Homaru. He was sure his attack would not miss when his opponent suddenly vanished. Knives stopped with nothing but air where his opponent had been.

"Such speed!" Kakashi said with amazement.

"You're slow." Homaru said from behind.

Knives temper was beginning to grow as he attacked Homaru again and again but none of them connected. Turning to make another attack Knives was struck with Homaru's knee with a violent force. Homaru stood next to Knives with a smile.

"You've got skill I'll give you that, but it will only go so far if you remain in the Leaf Village." Homaru's eyes widened as he moved back, Knives hand just barely missing him. "His speed increased." Homaru said to himself.

"I don't like listening to stupid people talk." Knives said with a defiant voice.

"Then perhaps you shouldn't talk." Homaru replied.

Knives pulled a kunai from his pack that he had grabbed on his way out. "I think you misunderstood." Knives prepared for another assault. "I was talking about you!"


	39. Chapter 39

**_Chapter 39_**

"I think you misunderstood." Knives prepared for another assault. "I was talking about you!"

"Hm." Homaru smiled. "We shall see soon enough who is better."

Kakashi watched as Knives made for another attack. He wasn't sure what to think. Knives form was flawless. He moved as though he had the Byakuugan. _His skills are unbelievable. He catches even the smallest hints, and when he's wrong he has enough room to dodge the attack. Hinata has trained him well._

Knives attacked again and again, but still even with his skills Homaru was still faster. He kicked Knives, sending him into a tree. Sakura quickly made her way over to check on him.

"Are you alright?"

Knives grumbled under his breath. "I'm fine." Trying to get up, Knives coughed from the force of the blow he had taken.

"Don't try to get up, just rest. We'll take care of this." Standing Sakura faced their opponent. He was skinny with silver hair and green eyes. He was skinny enough that a person could swear they could snap him in half without any trouble. "It's my turn."

Kakashi and Naruto also prepared for an attack.

"All three of you then?" Homaru said with a laugh. "This should be fun."

Sakura raced toward him. "Haaaa!" With a fierce punch Sakura put a whole in the ground where Homaru had been but the blast missed him.

"Shadow clone jutsu!"

Three clones appeared and went to attack while a fourth remained near Naruto creating an energy vortex in his hand. The clones were defeated easily.

"Rasengan!"

Knives stared at their power. "That shot got him!"

Smoke filter throughout the area. When it died, Homaru was standing at the center of Sakura's whole that she had made.

"Not even a scratch!" Naruto hissed.

"Hm." Homaru jumped from the hole to solid ground. "It is true then that their power is undefeatable." Kakashi watched him carefully. "An ancient power that far surpasses anything you can do, it's amazing!"

"Ancient power?" Sakura asked.

"Yes." Homaru answered. "A young boy claiming to have unimaginable power came to speak with Orrochimaru. He said he would provide a means for him to harness that power if he would do something for him."

"What was that?" Kakashi questioned.

"Hn. Hell if I know." Homaru grinned. "But now no one can stop us, not even Konaha."

Knives stared at the man. "He must be crazy." he thought for a moment. "No, he's not crazy. I can feel his power. " Knives fiddled with his gun that was still in his pack. "Should I use it?" A thought came to his mind.

"So, will you try your luck some more, or should I just kill you?" Homaru said with enjoyment. "Perhaps you can test your greatest jutsu's and see if you can win, I would enjoy knowing how powerless you are."

"Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?" Knives said as he walked over. "I'll take you down."

"Knives, this isn't a game..." Kakashi started.

"I know, that's why I'm going to kick his ass."

Homaru used his speed to get behind Knives. "You can't beat me."

Knives smiled. "You already lost."

"What!"

Knives yanked his arm up and a loud bang came from in the forest. Homaru remained on his feet blood dripping from his stomach.

"What hap...pened?"

Knives closed his eyes. "Simple. I beat you."

Homaru dropped to the ground with a loud thud.

Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi stared at the scene with disbelief.

Sakura looked around but was still confused. "I don't get it, what happened?"

Knives moved his hand into a better view and they all could see a thin cord.

Naruto looked at it. "What does it trail back to though?"

"A weapon of mine." Knives said calmly.

"A weapon?" Kakashi asked.

"A personal weapon." Knives said as he went to retrieve his gun and stuff it back in his bag without letting anyone see it.

"Now what Kakashi-sensai?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi thought for a bit. "The only thing we can do is continue on. We move to the next town."

Knives stopped for a moment to look at their surroundings. Something wasn't quite right but he couldn't put his finger on it. Shrugging he turned to follow the others.

The next town was only about three hours away and Hinata, Kiba, and Shino were only finding their battle site when Kakashi and the group were checking into a hotel. Hinata examined the body and the surroundings. Things didn't seem to be too bad, so why did Knives feel compelled to use his gun. She looked down at the body. Just how strong had this man been? Giving the signal, Kiba told them their next direction and set off.

Knives watched the town from his window. He was beginning to find it fascinating now watching everyone moving about normally. It was strange to him though. Not too long ago he would have killed them without a second thought. Now, he seemed to enjoy just watching them. Sitting back, Knives thought about everything that had happened to him. His world had changed drastically, and yet it didn't really bother him.

"I think...I think I finally found a home." Knives looked up at the sky. "Rem..." An image of Vash filtered into his mind. "Ha...they're still fools, even if I've changed a little."

Getting up, he moved towards his bag. Pulling out his gun, he looked at it a few times, and then placed it safely back away. His thoughts were on Hinata, and what she might be doing while he was away. She had shown him many different sides of herself that he had not expected of her, but still she was able to train him, and be just as harsh as when they had met. Her eyes were less deadly looking then they had been at that time, but still they showed that it was only hidden.

Sighing Knives laid down on his bed, deciding now would be good time to take a small nap.


	40. Chapter 40

Hey everyone sorry for such a long delay in my writing. A lot of stuff has been going on at home and I just couldn't get any writing done. By the time I came back I realized .. wow .. my spelling was a mess xD and had to go through all my chapters to do some repairing. Without too much rambling I will continue this story! :D

**_Chapter 40_**

Knives stretched as he awoke slowly and rolled over to his side as he wondered how long he had been out. Sitting up he looked out the window for a moment then left from his room in search of food. As he made his way downstairs Kakashi waved him over while Naruto gave a small scowl.

"Well since we're all up I suppose we should leave after we eat." Kakashi said calmly.

"Kakashi-sensai?"

Kakashi smiled at Sakura. "We have one more place to head to before we have to report back to Konaha."

Nodding Sakura left from the table to pack up her things. Both Naruto and Knives remained silent as they finished eating and then returned to their rooms to gather their things. The trip seemed oddly quiet, though Knives seemed deeper in thought about their last encounter then worrying about Naruto's irritating behavior.

The next town they were traveling too was at least a day and a half's trip and they had to stop for the night along the way.

Knives crossed his arms as he sat against the tree near the fire. Sakura and Naruto were already asleep though Kakashi was still awake.

"You should sleep."

Knives rolled his eyes. "I'll sleep when I decide to."

Kakashi shrugged and poked at the fire a bit to keep it going. "Something on your mind?"

Knives looked at Kakashi for a few moments as he debated talking to him. He did indeed have a lot on his mind. The events of the other day had made him somewhat uneasy as well as the fact that Hinata had given him his gun for this trip. A snore caught his attention and he looked at Naruto as he slept away.

"Idiot."

Kakashi looked over at Naruto for a moment then gave a small laugh. "How come you don't like Naruto?"

Knives was silent for a bit then shifted his sitting position as though getting more comfortable. "He reminds me of my brother."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "You and your brother don't get along?"

"No."

Kakashi looked at Knives for a moment then back at Naruto. "He's a good kid. Even when the odds are against him he doesn't give up."

"Why?" Kakashi turned back to Knives. "I heard about Sasuke. He betrayed the Village didn't he? Went to Orrochimaru all on his own. Why does he still care about him?"

"It's true that Sasuke did all of those things. Still .. he was a part of team seven. Naruto considers him like a brother."

Knives blinked. "Like a brother?"

Kakashi chuckled. "It's kind of complicated." Standing he looked back at Sakura and Naruto. "Both of them are determined to get Sasuke back no matter what it takes." Turning, Kakashi left Knives alone to scout the area once more.

Knives was silent for a while, his eyes looking over both Sakura and Naruto as he thought about what Kakashi had said. _Risking their lives for someone else? Humans …_ Knives closed his eyes and decided to try and get some sleep.

* * *

Hinata continued her movements as she followed after Knives and the others. There was no way to be sure they were in any real danger, but she and Tsunade had agreed it was too much of a risk. As she landed on a branch her eyes widened as her foot slipped and she started to fall back to the ground.

With a gasp Hinata closed her eyes, expecting to hit the ground but instead landing in a pair of arms.

"Hinata are you alright?" Kiba said as she turned back and made his way to her and Shino.

Shino let Hinata down on to her feet gently.

"I'm alright."

"Maybe we should rest."

"No. I'm ok."

"We haven't stopped to rest all day." Shino said calmly.

"We have to catch up with them." Hinata started to walk forward then stopped as her feet started to give out on her and Kiba caught her.

"After we rest." Kiba insisted. Moving her over towards one of the trees he helped her to sit. "If there is any danger we'll be useless if we tire ourselves out like this."

With a sigh Hinata nodded.

"Are you worried about him?"

Hinata looked at Shino for a few moments then gave a nod. She was worried about Knives. He had for some reason felt the need to use his gun against an opponent already. What if something else happened?

"Ah don't worry. Naruto's with him." Kiba said with a laugh.

Hinata rolled her eyes. "That isn't really comforting." Hinata wondered if the two of them had tried to kill each other yet.

Kiba was about to say something then stopped as he heard a noise in the trees. Standing, both he and Shino looked in the same direction, their weapons ready. Slowly a man came out of the shadows, his round glasses giving off a glare from the sun light.

"We just keep running into each other."

I've been out of the loop with my writing for a while so I hope its ok. .


	41. Chapter 41

Ok another update. Please enjoy chapter 41

**_Chapter 41_**

Kabuto stood in the darkness amongst the trees, a grin spread across his face. His eyes glanced up into the trees as two others came into light around the three travelers. Kiba, Shino, and Hinata were surrounded. Stepping forward, Kabuto looked directly at the three of them.

"Just hand over Hinata and we'll be on our way."

"Not a chance!" Kiba shouted as Akamaru growled.

Kabuto shrugged. "Have it your way then."

Knives jolted from where he had been sleeping as he grabbed his kunai. Both Sakura and Naruto looked off to the sound that had woken them, smoke forming in the distance.

"What was that?"

Sakura was silent for a moment. "A battle maybe?"

Knives stepped up next to them, his eyes on the smoke. For some reason he had a very bad feeling about it. His head turned as Kakashi jumped down and back into the area.

"Kakashi-sensai!"

"Looks like there's a battle going on."

"Should we check it out?" Naruto inquired quickly.

Kakashi shook his head. "We shouldn't get involved in it. If we're seen at some kind of battle it could be used to start a war."

Nodding the four of them started in the opposite direction. Turning around for a moment Knives looked back towards the battle. Something was not sitting well with him about his thoughts were on Hinata before he headed off towards the battle instead.

"Knives!" Sakura shouted.

"What is he doing!" Naruto blurted out.

Turning around, the three of them started after Knives. He wasn't sure why but for some reason he felt he should check out the battle. Stopping as he heard some noise, Knives put his back to a tree and pulled out his kunai. Carefully he looked around the area, a curse escaping as something slammed into the ground right next to him.

Looking at what had skidded over the ground Knives eyes widened. "Akamaru?"

Standing the large dog got up and looked at Knives before taking off back through the forest. Knives tightened his grip over his kunai. This wasn't just some battle if Akamaru was here. Rounding from the tree Knives started off in the same direction Akamaru had gone.

Hinata cursed as her body was thrown against a tree, a hiss escaping her lips from the pain. Kabuto walked up towards her slowly. Unfortunately for her Kiba and Shino were occupied with the other two who had come with Kabuto.

"You can't win."

"Shut up!"

Pushing off from the tree Hinata tried to strike at Kabuto. She had already been tired to begin with and now she was even worse off. Her leg was bleeding as well as her arm but still she tried to keep fighting. Her moves were slow which made it easy for Kabuto to dodge.

Bringing his fist in quickly to her stomach, Kabuto knocked Hinata back against the tree once more. Coughing, Hinata brought her arms up defensively as Kabuto came in for another attack, her eyes closing.

Kabuto's eyes widened as his attack connected but not at his intended target. Standing in front of him with his arms crossed defensively stood Knives, a very dark and angered look on his face. Taking a step back Kabuto observed him.

"You again."

Hinata blinked and stared as she looked at Knives back. He'd saved her? Slowly his head turned to look at her and she felt her body push back further against the tree, the look at first frightening her before it softened.

"Are you alright?"

Slowly Hinata nodded and Knives turned back, the dark look returning.

"You're really starting to annoy me."

Kabuto pulled out one of his blades, his chakra flowing through it as he remained quiet.

Knives looked at Kabuto carefully, a kunai slipping into his hand. In one fluid motion he sent the kunai flying at Kabuto which he easily knocked away and started dodging Knives close combat assault. Hinata stepped forward, her teeth clenching together from the pain though she ignored it.

Kabuto jumped back from Knives and out into the trees. Knives cursed as he tried to follow but lost sight of Kabuto, his voice echoing as he spoke.

"This would be easier if you'd just stay out of all this."

"Shut up!"

"What does she even matter to you?"

Knives tossed a kunai into the trees.

"If its training you want I know someone stronger who could help you."

Hinata stood behind Knives as she looked around, her eyes changing as she used the Byakugan to try and locate Kabuto.

"You're no hero. I heard about you Knives."

Knives grit his teeth together as he tossed another kunai into the trees. Silence came then a few kunai flew towards Knives and Hinata. Both of them stepped back out of the way and Hinata targeted her search towards the attack.

"You've killed people. You twisted them into doing what you wanted and when you were done left them to die."

Hinata's attention turned to Knives in disbelief. She didn't know his entire story and though she hadn't expected it to be a pleasant one, she had not expected what she was hearing.

"You're just using Hinata. And when you're done you'll kill her too right?"

Knives anger was boiling as he tried to trace Kabuto's voice. This human was just getting more annoying with each second. Reaching into his pouch Knives pulled out his remaining kunai. He had four left and no direction.

"Any idea which way?" Knives asked quietly.

Hinata's head snapped up from her thoughts and she looked at Knives. He was tense and frustrated. Shaking her head slightly she tried to search again for Kabuto, her search coming up empty until she felt a blow to the back of her neck, her vision starting to blur.

Knives' attention was out into the forest when he caught Hinata starting to fall next to him. Turning he spotted several kunai coming at him and he jumped back to dodge.

"Hinata!"

Kabuto grinned as he held Hinata and jumped back into the forest. Knives sprinted after them.

"Damn it! Hinata!"


	42. Chapter 42

Here goes chapter 42

**_Chapter 42_**

"Hinata!" Knives shouted but he couldn't figure out which way Kabuto had gone.

"Knives!"

Knives turned around as Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi came in to view.

"Kabuto! Kabuto took Hinata!"

"What!" Naruto looked around. "Which way did they go."

Knives shook his head. "I don't know, I lost track of him!"

"Oi!" Akamaru stopped close by, Kiba on his back. "Where's Hinata?"

Knives looked at Kiba. He looked fairly battered as though he'd been in a rough fight. "He took off with Hinata."

Kiba frowned. "What about Shino?"

Kakashi sighed. "Alright; Kiba. Sakura. You two look for Shino. Knives and Naruto you and I will go after Kabuto."

Nodding Sakura followed after Kiba to search for Shino. Knives raised his eyebrow as he looked at Kakashi.

"How are we gonna find them!"

"You still have a lot to learn." Kakashi stated simply. "SUMMONING JUTSU!" with a puff of smoke a pack of hounds appeared. "We need to find Kabuto and Hinata." Kakashi gave them the signal to move out and the hounds moved around the area till they picked up on Hinata's sent and began to follow it; Kakashi, Naruto, and Knives behind them.

Slowly Hinata started to open her eyes, her vision blurred though she realized she was moving.

"I'd advise not fighting."

"Knives ..?"

"He won't be able to find you."

Hinata began to struggle in Kabuto's arms which threw him off balance as he landed on the branch of a tree. Grumbling he let Hinata go and leaving her to fall to the ground. Unable to make a good landing Hinata rolled to the side a bit before she got up and started to run.

Three kunai flew through the air, two of them hitting Hinata and causing her to fall with a cry of pain. Kabuto sighed as he looked down at her, one kunai in her arm and the other having cut into her side. Leaning down he yanked the blade out of her arm.

"You're not making this any easier on yourself. " picking her up Hinata tried to struggle again. Becoming frustrated Kabuto let her go only to stumble as he brought another blow to the back of her neck. Her vision blurring again and Hinata fell into Kabuto's arms. Shaking his head Kabuto continued on further into the forest.

Knives looked at the small dog that he and the others were following. "Are we getting any closer?"

"They seemed to have stopped for a bit, but they're moving again."

"We have to hurry!" Naruto said as he started to move faster.

Kakashi moved to catch up with Naruto. "Take it easy, we'll catch up to them."

"Why would they want Hinata?"

"Hmm"

Knives picked up speed so he could catch up with the other two. Reaching into his pouch he tried to remember what all he had on him. He had picked up a few kunai before they left so now he had about six available and three explosive tags.

"They're just up ahead."

Knives looked over at the dog then up ahead as he pulled out one of his kunai.

Kabuto looked back for a moment and sighed. "They don't give up." Stopping he set Hinata down on the ground against a tree then backed up to meet with his pursuers, setting a few traps along the way.

"hn?"

"What is it?"

"He's coming back towards us."

The three of them stopped. "Now what?" Knives inquired. A kunai flew towards the tree Knives was standing on, an explosive tag attached to it. "Shit!"

Knives jumped back as the explosion went off, throwing him down against the ground rolling. Carefully he started to stand up as Kakashi landed next to him.

"Are you alright?"

Knives nodded.

Kabuto walked up into sight. "This meeting constantly has got to stop."

Standing Knives scowled at him. "Just as soon as I kill you."

"Rasengan!"

Kabuto moved as Naruto came down from above, the Rasengan making contact with the ground and causing dust to form. Quickly Kakashi leaned in towards Knives and whispered something before he walked up to the battle, the dust clearing.

"You've been getting stronger Naruto."

Naruto glared at Kabuto.

"But you don't seem to have." Kakashi stated calmly. Stopping he removed the patch over his eye to reveal the sharingan eye. "Chidori!" Lightning sparked around his hand, a whirling sound forming as he began to run at Kabuto.

Knives stopped for a moment as he heard the strange buzzing sound and looked back at the battle, his thoughts on Kakashi's words.

Kakashi leaned in close to Knives.

"We'll keep him busy. Try to circle around the battle and find Hinata."

Turning back Knives continued in the direction that Kabuto had come from. He had no idea where Hinata would be so he stopped every so often to look around. With a sigh Knives continued through the forest, his eyes catching sight of an explosive tag. "Shit!"

Jumping from the tree he was on as it exploded he found himself hopping from one tree to another as more explosive tags went off. Finally making it to a safe spot he rolled his eyes.

"Annoying humans."

He only made it a short distance till he triggered a trip wire trap, several kunai and shirikin flying towards him. Jumping down out of the trees Knives grumbled to himself.

"If I see that human again I'm going to kill him!"


	43. Chapter 43

**_Chapter 43_**

Hinata winced as she started to open her eyes, a stinging pain coming from her arm.

"Just hold still."

"Knives?"

Knives paused from wrapping up her arm and looked at Hinata. It hadn't taken him long to find her after he finally got through all of Kabuto's traps. "Just stay still."

Hinata winced again as he continued to wrap up her arm. Slowly she started to open her eyes, a blurred image of Knives coming in to view.

"What happened?"

"That stupid human .." Knives stopped mid sentence as he accidentally pulled the bandage too tight and caused her jerk from the pain. "Sorry."

Hinata blinked. _Did he just say he was sorry?_ Hinata had noticed some changes in Knives over the last few months though this had caught her off guard. Both of them remained silent as he finished wrapping the wound.

"Can you stand?"

"I think so."

Hinata tried to stand up, her body still too weak she fell right back towards the ground. To her surprise Knives caught her.

"More wounds?" Knives sighed. "We need to head back to Konaha."

"Wait .. where are the others?"

"Knives picked Hinata up. "Kakashi and Naruto are dealing that irritating human and the others are looking for Shino."

"Is he hurt?"

Knives shook his head. "I don't know."

Stopping to look around he sighed. "I have no idea which way to go."

Hinata closed her eyes for a moment, her eyes changing to her Byakugan as she looked out around her then pointed. "That way."

"Those eyes really come in handy."

"Where would you be with out me?" Hinata gave a grin.

Knives chuckled slightly. "Probably back home using my training grounds."

"Do you miss it?"

Knives remained silent for a while. Did he miss it? Before she had come around he had been confined to that stupid home of Vash's, always being annoyed by his brother and living under his ever constant watch.

When Hinata had come around his world had been turned completely upside down, and now he was in a different world and tolerating humans. _Temporarily_ he reminded himself.

"Not really."

Hinata shivered slightly, her body moving closer towards Knives.

"Cold?" She nodded gently. Looking up at the setting sun, Knives sighed and set Hinata down gently. "I'll start a fire."

Hinata closed her eyes while Knives started the fire, the two of them becoming extremely quiet. Hinata curled up on the ground next to the fire while Knives scouted out the nearby area.

"We're about two days away from Konaha, at least, I think."

"I hope Naruto and the others are alright."

"I'm sure they'll catch up with us eventually."

Silence formed again before Hinata spoke. "Why did you save me back there?"

"What?"

Hinata felt a blush start to form and she looked at the ground to hide it. "You stepped in the way of his attack."

Knives started to move a couple of the sticks around the fire with the stick in his hand. "I recall you doing the same in my battle with Neji."

Hinata blinked. "So you were repaying a favor?"

Knives shrugged. _Why does it matter so much? Humans._

Hinata started to speak again and then sighed. Closing her eyes she decided to rest through the night while Knives kept watch. Sometime late through the night a rustling sound caught Knives attention; his kunai in hand as he prepared for a fight.

Akamaru was the first to appear and Knives let down his guard. Slowly Kiba, Kakashi, and Naruto followed.

"Where are the others?"

Kiba sat down next to the fire. "Sakura took Shino back to the village earlier. How's Hinata?"

Knives took a seat on the opposite side of the fire. "She'll be alright." He looked up at Kakashi. "Did you kill him?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "No. He got away."

Knives scowled. "I'll have to make sure to kill him next time."

Silence stretched on for a while as the group settled in together and Kakashi took watch while the others rested. When the sun rose the six of them continued back to Konaha. Another night was spent in the forests before they finally reached the village.

"Home sweet home!" Naruto said happily as they entered Konaha.

Hinata chuckled. She'd insisted on moving on her own since she had woken the first night though she still seemed a little unsteady on her feet.

"I think I'm gonna head back home."

Knives crossed his arms. "Shouldn't you have those wounds looked at?"

Hinata started to walk past him. "I'll be fine .." Hinata stopped and winced as Knives grabbed her arm harshly.

"Have I ever mentioned you're a stubborn human?"

Hinata sighed. "More than once."

Giving up the fight Hinata headed for the hospital to have her wounds looked at. Knives waited by the window as he looked out at the village.

"You could go out and train or something you know."

Knives raised an eyebrow as he looked over at Hinata, a grin forming. She didn't seem to like how he was looking after her, and quite frankly he wasn't sure why he was doing it to begin with. Still, it was fun to see her so annoyed.

"I can train later."

Hinata sighed and decided to remain silent until Neji burst into the room.

"What happened!" Neji shot Knives a dark glare then turned to Hinata. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Hinata gave Knives a glare of her own. _And here we go …_

Neji turned his attention to Knives. "You don't look like you got a scratch on you, what did you do let her do all the fighting!"

Knives quickly moved up to Neji, his hand grasping at his shirt. "You have a problem with me?"

"Actually I .."

"Enough!"

Neji stopped and both of them looked over at Hinata. "Honestly can't you two give it a rest?"

"What's going on in here!"

The door burst open as Tsunade walked in, her eyes on the two as Knives let go of Neji's shirt. "If you're just causing trouble then get out of my hospital."

Neither Knives or Neji spoke a word as they were instructed to leave the room. Standing in the hallway the two tried their best to ignore the other's presence as they waited for Tsunade to return from in Hinata's room.


	44. Chapter 44

**_Chapter 44_**

Knives sat down his pouch on the table of the apartment as he walked in and sat down. When Tsunade had walked out of the room both he and Neji had been told everything was fine, then instructed just to leave.

Neji sighed then scowled as the two of them left the hospital. "This is your fault."

"How the hell is this my fault!"

Neji turned towards Knives, his voice rising. "She only left to find you!"

"I didn't ask her to!"

Neji balled up his fist. "That doesn't matter! If you weren't around here she wouldn't be off doing stupid stuff like trying to rescue you!"

"I don't need her trying to help me."

"If that's true then she doesn't need to train you anymore! Why don't you go the hell back to where you came from!"

Knives started to speak then turned with a scowl and walked away. "Stupid useless human."

Knives sighed and looked out the window. Scowling as the people walked by, he returned to his room and tossed his pouch down on his bed. "Why should I even care what a human like him has to say?"

The room went silent and then he sighed. "I'm becoming soft."

"Yo."

Knives turned around and looked at the window, his eyes rolling. Kakashi leaned into the window with a goofy grin on his face and his hand up in a gestured wave.

"How about some Ramen? My treat?"

Knives raised his eyebrows at the Jounin then shrugged and headed out to the door to meet with him. Over the last few months he'd gotten a bit more used to the Ramen though he still found a bit more spicy for his taste.

Kakashi sat down at the bar. "So .. I heard Tsunade went to check on Hinata."

"Yes."

"I didn't think she got injured that badly."

"What do you mean?"

"hm? Well Tsunade is one of the best healers in the village."

"She said Hinata was fine though."

Kakashi gave a nod. "What did Neji have to say?"

Knives grit his teeth and kept his eyes on his bowl of Ramen. "Nothing important."

Kakashi gave another nod. "Oh. Well Neji does sometimes tend to get very protective of Hinata so try not to let anything he says bother you."

Knives glanced over at Kakashi for a moment but said nothing. As he finished his bowl Knives stretched then turned to Kakashi.

"Thank you for the Ramen."

Kakashi smiled. "Any time." Standing he started out of the restaurant. "Well I got some work to get done. Later."

Knives gave a light wave and headed off in a different direction.

"Hey! Knives!"

Knives groaned and looked ahead of him at Vash and Meryl. Vash was still wearing his red coat though Meryl had chosen to adopt to the clothes around town. Looking up at the sky for a moment Knives walked towards his brother knowing it would just get worse if he tried to walk away.

Since they had been in the village Knives had gained some freedom, but had found a few prices for his new life. The first was his temporary tolerance of humans and living among them. The second was that his brother liked to check on him from time to time.

Vash tilted his head. "Everything alright?"

"Fine."

"Uh .. well I just finished my work with the repairs." Vash grinned. "Been a long few months."

Knives raised an eyebrow. "So now what are you going to do?"

Vash scratched the side of his cheek a bit as he gave a small laugh. "Well um .. I'm actually not too sure .."

Silence stretched and Knives started to get uneasy. As it was Vash was still fairly naïve about what he was up to, if he expressed interest in the same field ..

Knives dropped his thoughts instantly. "I have some stuff I need to get done." Turning he gave a light wave to Vash and walked off, leaving his brother a bit bewildered. Sighing Knives decided to head back to the hospital. As he walked down the street Knives spotted Neji, a dark glare forming from both men.

Knives placed his hands in his pockets as he kept his gaze in front of him, his eyes only slightly following Neji as the two past each other, both eyes watching the other as they passed without a word.

Knives opened the door to Hinata's room and paused, his eyes resting on the few who were present. Naruto, Kakashi, and an odd looking man were standing around Hinata's bed.

"Did I interrupt something?"

Hinata looked at the others and gave a small nod before she looked back at Knives. "No, just discussing a few things."

The odd looking man with long white hair smiled. "So this is the new apprentice!"

Hinata grinned. "Knives this is Jiraiya. He's one of the legendary Sannin. "

Knives blinked as he looked at the man before him. He'd heard a few tales about the Sannin though the man did not look like very much to him.

"Kakashi?" Hinata asked quietly. Nodding Kakashi began to talk to both Jiraiya and Naruto about getting some Ramen. Silence fell into the room as Knives walked up to the bed. "Tsunade wants me to stay here for the night."

"When will you be able to start more training?"

Silence filled the room. Hinata looked out the window as a bird flew by. "Not for a while. I have a mission tomorrow."

Knives stared, his posture showing his surprise before he made a few hand gestures. "You got to be kidding! She's making you stay in a hospital the night then just sending you out!"

"It's something I need to .."

"What about my training!"

Hinata narrowed her eyes. "Is that all you care about?"

"It .."

"Please leave Knives."

Knives looked out the window briefly before he turned and left the room, the door slamming along the way.


	45. Chapter 45

**_Chapter 45_**

Hinata checked her pouch for what seemed like the tenth time in the last two hours. Sighing, she looked back down the trail she'd been walking before she continued on, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura walking along side her.

Knives had made it a point to avoid her when she returned home, neither of them speaking before she left the village.

"So, I'm alright then?"

"Luckily, you'll be fine." Tsunade said with a sigh. "They're going through quite a lot just for you."

Hinata narrowed her eyes. "I don't know why they want me so desperately but it's time I put an end to it." Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "I can't keep putting everyone and every mission in danger like this."

"If you think I'm just gonna let you walk out there and give yourself to them …"

"Just hear me out." Hinata pleaded. Tsunade crossed her arms quietly. "Let someone who is good at tracking follow me. If I go with Kabuto he'll have to take me to Orrochimaru eventually. This could be a chance to finally catch him."

"And if they escape?"

"Please let me do this Tsunade."

"I don't like agreeing to something as risky as this." Silence fell into the room. "Very well, but there will be terms."

Hinata gave a grin. "May I ask one more favor?"

"Hm?"

"Could you arrange for the two outside to leave?"

Tsunade laughed. "That is easy enough." Hinata chuckled as the Hokage walked out of the room.

"So what exactly is the plan?" Naruto asked with a yawn.

Kakashi glanced at him momentarily. "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

"We'll discuss it more once we are further away from Konaha."

Naruto yawned again. "How are we supposed to find Kabuto anyway?"

"Stop asking so many question Naruto!"

Hinata laughed gently before she returned to her own thoughts.

Knives stretched as he walked out of his room. After his confrontation with Hinata, he had decided to remain in his room until she had left the village. Glancing at the table, he picked up a small note that was left for him.

_Knives,_

_I expect you to be training while I am gone. Neji has promised to work with you so you will be expected to meet him out at the training grounds early morning. _

_Hinata_

Knives stared at the note, his anger rising as he crushed the paper in his hand. "Work with Neji!"

Tossing the paper on the floor, Knives returned to his room, the door slamming viciously behind him. Fuming Knives picked up his gun and the polishing kit he'd put together.

"Do you think I want to do it?"

Immediately Knives turned, his gun swinging around quickly to face the voice. Neji stood near the window, his arms crossed and an angered, but defeated face visible.

"We're to start training immediately."

"Forget it."

"I gave Hinata my word."

"Then I guess you'll have to break it."

Neji sighed. "Or we can do this the hard way."

Moments later the roof of the room shattered, smoke filling the air as Neji and Knives both landed on the roof.

"Hinata is gonna kill us both!" Neji scowled.

"I'm tired of dealing with you!"

Knives charged at Neji, kunai drawn and clashing with one another. As the two battled, Neji attempted to lead the fight out into the training area though found it harder than he had expected, several buildings getting into the cross fire.

Knives was about to make another move against Neji when his body froze, a look of shock on his face.

"What the hell is this!"

"How troublesome." Shikimaru sighed. "Normally I wouldn't get into the middle of something like this, but the two of you can't be fighting here."

"You can let me go." Neji stated calmly.

Shikimaru released both Neji and Knives. "You should settle your differences like men, this is too troublesome to have to deal with."

Knives scowled as he walked away, a mutter escaping about having to fix the roof. Neji shook his head as Shikimaru came to stand next to him.

"What's with that guy?"

"He's nothing but bad news." Neji sighed. "And if I don't train him, Hinata is going to have my head."

Shikimaru laid a hand on Neji's shoulder as he walked by. "Women … how troublesome."

Knives walked down the street, his hands in his pockets as he grumbled. How could Hinata expect him to work with Neji of all people? Sighing he looked up at their apartment and grimaced.

"This .. could take a while."

"Knives!"

Vash waved to his brother, his red coat standing out in the crowd. Knives groaned as he looked up at the apartment again then sighed.

"Hey, what happened to your place?" Vash inquired.

"Nothing just .. remodeling."

Vash raised an eyebrow. "What, did Hinata want something changed?"

Knives rolled his eyes. "No, I did."

"Oh." There was a pause. "Would you like some help?"

"No thanks." Knives quickly walked past his brother to try and avoid any more discussions.

It was night before Knives decided to stop his work on the apartment. Stretching out Knives leaned back against the roof and looked up at the stars, the night silence comforting to him. Closing his eyes for a few minutes, Knives wondered just what Hinata was up to at this point, or why her mission was so important that she'd ask Neji to train him.

"If I promise to stay way over here can you not attack me this time?"


	46. Chapter 46

**_Chapter 46_**

The morning sun shone brightly in the sky as Knives leaned back against the roof, a hammer in his hand. Looking to his side he eyed Neji who was still working on the roof then looked down at their progress. The roof was almost completely repaired, and if he was lucky Hinata would not even notice a difference.

"If I promise to stay way over here can you not attack me this time?"

Knives opened his eyes and looked to his left where Neji was standing, his voice calm as he spoke, and his posture seeming composed. Knives narrowed his eyes at him then turned back to the roof without a word.

Silence stretched before Neji dared to speak again. "We both know we don't really like each other for our own reasons, and we don't want to work together either." He paused and got no response. "Hinata asked that I train you until she comes back and I gave her my word I would do as much." Again he paused and waited for a reply but received none. "Can we at least tolerate each other till she comes back?"

Knives continued to ignore Neji's words as he went back to working on the roof, a look of indifference on his face. Sighing Neji knelt down and picked up a few of the tools as he began to work on the roof as well, this time Knives stopping and looking at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you fix the roof."

"I don't need your help."

"I know." Neji paused and looked up at Knives. "But I helped cause the mess I should help fix it."

Shrugging, Knives silently opted to tolerate Neji while they both worked on the roof.

Neji stopped as he took a deep breath and whipped his hand over his forehead. "Another few hours and it should be done."

Knives gave a nod. "How about not telling her about this hm?"

Neji chuckled. "Only if you don't say anything." he stared as he thought he saw the tiniest of a smile cross Knives' face. "How about some ramen?"

Knives raised an eyebrow. "Are you buying?"

Neji shrugged. "Sure."

The trip for ramen was a fairly quiet one as neither of the two really wanted to speak to the other more than they had to. Kiba and Shino passed the two of them on the way back to the appartment, both of them giving a small nod to Knives.

"So when the roof is finished should we start training?"

"I didn't agree to that." Neji remained silent as his face turned into a slight frown. "But I suppose I could see how far I've progressed fighting you."

Neji chuckled slightly. "I can work with that."

As the morning turned into afternoon, the roof finally was finished and looking almost as good as new. With a satisfied nod, the two made their way to the training grounds for a battle between each other.

* * *

Smoke filled the air as an explosive went off, two forms jumping from tree branch to tree branch. Stopping on the ground, black hair slowly blew with the wind to gently lay against the girl's back as she looked at the man before her, his familiar round glasses holding some shine from the sunlight.

"Your friends are persistent."

"If I made this too easy I wouldn't have been allowed out of the village."

Kabuto gave a small chuckle. "Then it's time to pick up the pace."

Jumping off with some exploding tags in hand, Kabuto disappeared for a time while Hinata tried to catch her breath. So far her plan was working quite well, though it'd been a bit harder then she'd thought to make Kabuto believe she really intended to betray the village.

A rustling sound pulled Hinata from her thoughts as Kabuto came back.

"Time to go."

Quickly Hinata took off to follow after Kabuto.

Kakashi stopped for a moment, Pakun at his side as Naruto and Sakura came to a stop behind them.

"What is it Kakashi sensai?"

"We've been following them for a while now." Silence was the only reply. "Now might be a good time to call for backup from the village so they aren't too far behind."

Using a summoning technique, Kakashi summoned one of his hounds and began to write a small note. Giving instructions, the hound started back towards Konaha while Kakashi looked around them.

"Which way Pakun?"

Giving a few sniffs the nin dog started off ahead of them. "This way."


	47. Chapter 47

Sorry everyone I've been without net for a while. Still working on the story, so here's a new chap.

**_Chapter 47_**

Neji and Knives walked to the training grounds, both of them ready to battle with the other.

"So how worried are you about losing limbs?" Knives asked casually. He was doing his best to still find ways to annoy the ninja.

Neji smirked at his comment. He was slowly adjusting to Knives weird behavior, or at least enough to tolerate him until Hinata returned that is.

"Depends on how worried you are about your own."

Knives laughed. "You really think you can?"

"One way to find out."

"Neji! Knives!"

The two turned towards the yelling voice, Shizune running towards them with a frantic look.

"Incompetence!" Tsunade roared.

The ninja bowed apologetically. "Hokage-sama .."

"I ordered that all teams remain here!" the infuriated woman slammed her fist against the table. "Search the village and find every ninja you can!"

"Yes ma'am!" the man scrambled out of the office.

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune stopped after she got in the door, her breathing coming in heavily. "I found them."

The Hokage watched as Knives and Neji walked into the office, her posture changing slightly.

"You wanted to see us?" Neji inquired.

"Yes" Tsunade sighed. "Unfortunately too many teams are already out on missions, so I will be sending you two out together."

"TOGETHER!" both Knives and Neji exclaimed at the same time.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed and the two fell silent. "I wasn't supposed to tell you anything, but Hinata is out on a dangerous mission."

Knives crossed his arms. "Yeah, because of you."

The Hokage's eye twitched but instead she sat back for a moment. "Actually she requested the mission."

Knives arms fell to his side. "What!"

"Hinata wanted to go after Orrochimaru. The plan was for her to separate from the team under the pretense of betraying the village in hopes of finding his hideout."

"Why didn't she tell us?" Neji asked in disbelief.

"I'll give you one guess." Knives stated, his fist clenching tightly. "She knew if either of us found out, we'd tie her down and put her on a twenty-four hour watch."

Neji sighed. "Good point."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, her eyes on Knives. _Could he be …_ "Neji. Knives. Your mission is to meet with Kakashi and the others and follow Hinata. Do not make any moves until another team arrives!"

"Yes ma'am." Neji said with a nod.

Knives grunted and turned to leave the room, his fist still clenched. Unsure how to react Neji followed Knives out of the room.

"Tsunade-sama, are you sure it's safe to send that Knives?"

"He's a hard person to understand, but I'm sure he'll do what's right."

"Knives where are you going?"

"To get my things."

"Can't you wait for just a minute?"

Knives whirled around on Neji, a glare present. "What?"

Knives was not in a good mood, Neji was sure of that much, but why was he so, angry? Or was it that he was worried? "Look, we don't like each other, we both know that, but can we try to work like a team? For Hinata's sake?"

"Fine. Can I get ready now?"

"Ah … yeah."

Knives turned and walked off, Neji still standing and staring in disbelief. He hadn't expected such a quick and easy answer.

"Did my brother just agree to teamwork?"

Neji tilted his head to the left, his eyes spotting the trademarked coat of Knives' brother, Vash. "Yes. Yes he did."

"Should I be worried?"

"I'm not sure."

Knives slammed the door to the apartment as he walked in, his first instinct to grab the note that had been left to him.

"You weren't planning to come back, that's why you wanted Neji to train me."

_Stupid humans and their ridiculous self-sacrificing thoughts. When I see her, I'm going to tie her up and drag her back to Konaha. _

Crumpling up the paper, Knives tossed the note onto the floor and walked into his room to pack.

At the very least he'd be able to release his anger against some enemy along the way. At least he hoped as much cause he was steaming mad now.

Locking the doors, Knives met with Neji just outside the entrance of Konaha. Neither needed to speak to know the other was ready to go.

"It will take at least two days to catch up to them."

"Then we don't sleep."

Neji raised an eyebrow. "We'll need to camp for a night. If we're exhausted we'll be useless."

"Then quite talking and let's get moving."

"Tsunade said they're westward … hey hang on!"

"I'm not standing around."

Neji sighed as he caught up to Knives as they jumped the trees. "What's with you? Do you always just jump first and look later?"

"Yes." Knives smirked. He'd already been planning since he left the Hokage's office, but where was the fun in telling Neji that?

Shaking his head, Neji gave up trying to talk to him and let silence rein through the trip.

As the sun set, Neji enforced the need to rest, and demanded they stop for camp. Grudgingly Knives submitted and stopped with Neji while he started a fire. Leaning back against a tree, Knives closed his eyes.

Poking at the fire, Neji looked at Knives. "Why are you so worried about Hinata?"

"I'm not."

"Then why are you in such a hurry to find her?"

"Cause she gets herself into too much trouble."

"Then you are worried."

"No." Knives said with exasperation. "I just don't want to have to deal with it when it gets worse."

"No one said you would have to …"

"Will you drop the sharade!"

"what?"

Knives opened his eyes, a look of irritation on his face. "You want to ask something then ask. Don't keep circling around with a bunch of meaningless questions."

"Do you love her?"

"Who?"

"Hinata."

Both were silent, neither moving as the fire cackled.

"No."

Dropping the conversation, Neji laid down in his cot to sleep. As the silence stretched Knives began to wonder if he'd actually become too close to the humans.

So, maybe he was a bit worried about Hinata, but it was only cause she was supposed to train him right? Even if she did die, someone else in the village might train him. Wouldn't they? Or maybe that person Kabuto spoke of before could help …


	48. Chapter 48

**_Chapter 48_**

Knives was wide awake by the time dawn approached the next morning. The two quickly set off once more, an odd silence filling the air as they moved further onward. Mid afternoon was nearing it's way to becoming eening before either of them spoke at all.

"I see them. They're just a few miles ahead." Neji said with some relief.

Pakun halted in his pursuit. "Someone is coming."

Naruto and the others stopped. "Who is it?"

"I'm not sure, but there's two heading straight for us."

"Only two?" Sakura inquired. "They might be enemies."

"Wait here." Kakashi ordered.

Heading back toward the oncoming guests, Kakashi moved cautiously, his back to a tree as he waited.

"Kakashi-sensai."

"Oh, Neji." The jounin let down his guard. "And Knives. Why are you two by yourselves?"

"We'll explain in a bit. Where are the others?"

"This way."

Following Kakashi, the three rejoined the remaining team and proceeded to explain about the other teams. With so few having returned from their missions they were all that could be spared for the time being.

"I suppose it's just the five of us then." Kakashi looked down at Pakun. "Which way are they headed now?"

"It seems they've stopped just up ahead."

"Then we'll camp here."

"We're not going after her?" Knives questioned.

Sakura crossed her arms. "We're supposed to follow her and Kabuto, not stop them."

"Kabuto is with her!" Knives wasn't sure now if he should be mad or furious. Kabuto was close, and he already had a score to settle with that man.

"Let's camp for now. We'll follow them in the morning." Before anymore debates could arise Kakashi jumped down to the ground and started a fire.

Again Knives found a tree near the fire and leaned against it. The others seemed more content to resting in their cots while the fire burned warmly around them. Knives, however, didn't seem interested in sleeping. His mind was still spinning with the situation.

_Why is she doing this? What will walking into Orrochimaru's hideout do? Get her locked up again or dead that's what._

Still he couldn't completely deny her logic. She'd lead Konaha to Orrochimaru at the risk of her life and the possibility of death.

_Why do I really care anyway?_

Looking around the campfire, Knives stood up quietly. He was getting tired of this waiting and wanted to do things his way. Slowly, Knives began sneaking away from the fire and began the pursuit on his own.

* * *

"That pigheaded self-centered …." Sakura turned on a nearby tree and wailed on it with her fist.

"So he went after her." Kakashi sighed, however didn't seem very surprised.

"Now what do we do Kakashi-sensai?"

The jounin looked to Pakun. "Have they left yet?"

"They've got about an hour ahead but I can still track them."

Kakashi nodded. "We'll follow them for now, but let's not get too close. Maybe if Kabuto sees Knives alone he won't suspect we're still following."

"Hm. We have company." Kabuto stopped and pushed back his glasses. Looking at Hinata briefly, he waited for the approaching traveler.

Seeing his targets ahead, Knives stopped on a nearby tree. His breath was ragged from pushing himself so far, but now he'd finally caught up.

"So you came the whole way out here? You really are quite annoying."

"I'm good at that, and besides I have a score to settle with you."

Kabuto laughed. "With me? Aren't you here for her?"

"I'm gonna settle my score with you first."

"Oh? Heh, Hinata. It's time for you to prove yourself to me. Kill him."

Hinata's eyes widened at the order. She had hoped to get to Orrochimaru's hideout without any trouble, but it seemed fate had dealt her a different hand.

"Or does the leaf village still mean something to you?"

"No. It means nothing." Jumping a few branches, Hinata stood in front of Knives. "You should have stayed out of this."

_She wouldn't really try to kill me would she!_

"Move aside, its Kabuto I want."

"That's not going to happen." With a swift attack, Hinata sent a kunai towards Knives.

Evading the attack, Knives narrowed his eyes. Now what was he supposed to do?


	49. Chapter 49

**_Chapter 49_**

Knives backed away, his kunai clashing with Hinata's as the two began their battle. Her leg swept under his as she knocked him to the ground, the two battling fiercely as Kabuto watched intently. Hinata's kunai jabbed at the ground as Knives head shifted just out of reach of the attach.

_She's serious!_

Thrusting his shurikin towards her, Hinata was forced off of him, the two retreating a few feet. Knives hid behind one of the trees as Hinata did the same. The field was empty as Kabuto sat up in the tree, open to any attack.

Gritting his teeth, Knives thrust his kunai at Kabuto, his attack headed straight for him. The attack was blocked by another kunai from somewhere in the forest. _She's protecting him. Give me a break._

Tsunade's voice filled his mind as he recalled her words before they'd left. Hadn't she mentioned something about Hinata claiming to have betrayed the village? Knives jumped from the tree as several kunai came flying at him.

Rolling across the ground Knives ran from further threw the forest and then hid behind another tree to think. _If she's claiming to be a traitor then she'd have to act the part._

_Sakura crossed her arms. "We're supposed to follow her and Kabuto, not stop them."_

Knives leaned his head against the tree before looking back for a moment. "Why didn't I listen?" Again he moved from his hiding place as an explosive tag was sent flying his way.

Left out in the open, Knives stared at Hinata, his kunai in hand as he stared at her. She was fairly tattered and worn looking from her prior battles, but still able to keep going.

"C'mon is this really worth it?" She made no reply. Grumbling Knives glanced around the area. Kabuto was out of sight now. Quickly Knives threw an exploding tag of his own towards Hinata. Turning, Knives headed back towards the others. _Fine, let's play cat and mouse then._

Knives jumped into the trees, his head turning back briefly as he looked back at Hinata. She was still pursuing him which was good, at least for him. It would only be a matter of time before he'd cross paths with the rest of the team, for now he'd just have to keep her busy.

"Shit!"

Knives cursed as an exploding tag landed right next to him, the explosion throwing down to the ground with a powerful thud. Coughing, Knives stood, Hinata now only feet from him.

"You should have stayed home."

"Yeah, I've gotten that feeling already."

"Too late now."

Knives looked at Hinata, her face unreadable but somehow he was sure he knew what she was thinking. He took a few steps back, his hand reaching into his pouch. He was out of kunai.

_She wouldn't_

Hinata stopped, the kunai in her hand. Her face was the same unreadable look that had been present since the battle began. With a heavy sigh she turned away from him. "Go home."

"Hinata?"

"Just go home."

"Hinata!"

Naruto landed on one of the trees in front of her as the others gathered around. Everyone had finally arrived and Knives gave a small sigh of relief.

Kakashi jumped down between the two. "Hinata the teams have been delayed. The mission should be aborted."

"But Kabuto -"

"We will deal with kabuto if he returns. It's too risky."

Nodding, Hinata glanced over at Knives who was standing further back behind Kakashi. The look on her face was slightly different now, more embarrassed as her cheeks seemed quite red. Knives looked to the side and gave a small shrug as though he hadn't noticed anything.


	50. Chapter 50

**_Chapter 50_**

The six regrouped further from the battle as Pakun remained nearby. Kakashi took the first watch as the other slept silently. Knives remained awake as he usually did, still lost in his many thoughts. Neither he nor Hinata had spoken at all since the battle, though he had not even known where to begin.

"Sorry."

Knives looked over the fire. Hinata laid in her sleeping bag, her eyes wide open as she stared at him.

"Sorry about earlier."

"Forget about it." She shifted a bit and then sat up, her eyes on the fire. "Why did you leave Neji to train me?"

"So you'd have something to do while I was gone."

"You're a horible lier." Hinata winced, her eyes still on the fire. Knives eyes, however were intently gazing on Hinata herself. "You weren't planning on coming back were you?"

Again she winced, the fire blazed for a few moments in the silence. "No."

"I knew it." Knives' fist clentched tightly at his side. "Why?"

"To bring out Orrochimaru."

"You're pathetic."

Hinata winced again. "I was trying to be useful."

"By dying?" There was no reply. Knives grit his teeth together, his anger once more boiling. "Even if you find him you can't garentee the other teams will, and even then you can't garentee you'll make it out alive. Next time you come up with some insane plan try coming up with something that might actually work."

"Yeah .. sure .."

Rolling over, Hinata tried to return to sleep, her eyes closing tightly. She didn't want to admit it, but he was right. Her plan had been nothing more than a fools idea, but she was tired of him coming after her, and she was tired of people getting hurt because of it.

Still unable to sleep, Hinata sat up again, her eyes on Knives for a moment. He'd finally fallen to sleep after a few hours. Slowly, Hinata got up and made her way away from the camp site. Spotting a small stream nearby, Hinata sat down quietly and took a deep breath. No matter how hard she just could not sleep.

A strange light caught her eye, her kunai drawn Hinata slowly moved closer to the stream. The stream was lit mostly by the moonlight, but the light she followed came from another source. Slowly she peered around a boulder near the stream, a gasp escaping her lips.

"You .."

The young girl stepped closer. "Don't be afraid."

"I've seen you before .." the girl nodded, the faint glow surrounding her. "Who are you?"

"That's a bit hard to explain."

Hinata lowered her kunai. "My whole life is lately."

"I'm afraid I'm to blame for that."

"You?"

The little girl gave a soft smile, a warm coming from her as she gestured for Hinata to sit. "It's a very long story. I am Nahalia. I am of an Ancient race."

Hinata sat against the rock gently, her full attention on the young girl. "Nahalia? But what do you have to do with me?"

The girl nodded. "I sent you away from Orrochimaru's prison. I sent you away to that other world."

Hinata tilted her head slightly, her eyes on the river as she thought back to that day so long ago. "You? But - then you sent me to that desert - and you sent Neji there too! And you sent us all back here, and brought Knives and Vash back as well! But why? Why did you bring them back here, and why did you let Orrochimaru chase after me?"

The young waited patiently for Hinata to finish her questions before she spoke again. "I only help you're friend Neji cause he seemed so lost looking for you. I had nothing to do with the one who sought you. There is another who is helping him. One who which to create a vicious war in your world."

"A war?"

The young girl nodded again. "Another Ancient has defied the rules of our people and seeks to create a war with your people. Once the war begins countless people will die and he will collect the souls that are lost to this war. With those souls he intends to unlock a beast that was once banished by our people and wage war on our world."

Hinata sat back for a moment, her mind still racing. "But why bring Knives and Vash here?"

"I did not mean to. They were in the middle of this and if I'd left them there they would have been killed. I had little choice but to bring them too."

Hinata shook her head slightly. "I still don't understand. What does this have to do with me?"

The girl sighed lightly, though she looked like a young child, her features displayed the appearance of a woman far older. "You're Byakugan has the power to see where the beast has been sealed. Orrochimaru is already exerimenting on the Ancients powers in order to try and unlock the beast."

"Wait but I thought you said he needs souls."

"He needs human souls to feed it. To unlock it from it's sealed home requires the power of the Ancients."

Hinata sighed and gave a small nod. "And he needs me to find it?"

The girl nodded.

"So how do we stop them?"

"We're still working on that."

"Still working on that?"

The little girl gave a small sigh. "I have had to remain in recovery just for having to transport the four of you between two worlds. Doing such things is not an easy task or I'd have warned you about the situation a lot sooner. The best thing you can do is return home. We will stop them as soon as we can."

"And what will happen to Vash and Knives when you stop them?"

"They will be sent back to their own world."

"Sent back?"

_"Hinata?"_

"But-wait?"

_"Hinata?"_

Slowly Hinata opened her eyes, the sun beating down on her vision as she looked up at Kakashi who had been calling out to her. Slowly she looked up around the others and the camp grounds. She'd never left. Had she been dreaming? Had it all been a dream?


	51. Chapter 51

**_Chapter 51_**

By late that afternoon the group returned to Konaha, both Hinata and Knives returning to their apartment while the others left to report to the Hokage about the mission. Tossing her things on the table, Hinata sighed as she started to rummage through the kitchen cabnets.

"We're almost out of food .."

"I can pick some up later."

"Uh, sure." Sitting down in the living room, Hinata gave another sigh. The dream she'd had the night prior was still bothering her. She looked back into the kitchen and tilted her head slightly. Usually Knives would have locked himself in his own room by now.

"Something wrong?"

"Not really."

"Oh .." Shrugging, Hinata leaned her head back against the wall.

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

Knives stepped over next to Hinata, slowly sitting down against the floor himself. "You've been acting strange since this morning. What's on your mind?"

Hinata drew her knees up to her chest, her hand running against the floor a few times. "Knives, have you ever thought about what caused us to end up here?"

"What, you mean in your world?" She nodded. "Not really. Why?"

"Well we never really thought about it. What if you have to go back?"

Knives gave her a look of shock. "Do you want me to go back?"

"Well no, I'm not saying that." Hinata took in a deep breath. "I'm saying what if something else sent you here and decides to send you back."

Knives laughed. "Then I'll stab it. Or shoot it." Hinata raised an eyebrow, her head tilted slightly while he joked. "I'm not going anywhere and if some force of some kind tries to send me back then I'll just kill it. It's as simple as that."

Shrugging, Knives picked himself up from the floor and looked down at Hinata. She was smiling despite the fact that she still seemed heavily worried. They hadn't known anything about this force up until now, and even now she wasn't really sure if what she saw was real or just a simple dream.

Hinata blinked for a moment and looked up as she saw Knives reach a hand down to help Hinata up. "Come on." Still smiling, Hinata accepted his offered hand and got up from the floor as well. Yawning, the two headed for their respective rooms.

* * *

Knives awoke the next morning, his hair a mess as he finally made his way into the kitchen. Hinata was already awake, though she seemed equally as tired. Over breakfast Hinata informed Knives that Tsunade had taken them both off of missions over the next week, so their training would resume.

By late that evening Hinata and Knives retired from the training grounds and headed home. Knives yawned loudly, his hand running through his hair roughly. "I wonder what Vash is up to lately."

He laughed a bit as he walked over towards the window. It had been a long time since he'd thought about his brother without feeling angry or frustrated. Maybe tomorrow he'd drop by and say hi.

"What's so funny?"

"Is there a reason you're by my window?"

Hinata chuckled and gave a shrug. "Not really."

Knives leaned out of the window gently, his head turned to the left to look over at Hinata who seemed to be comfortablely sitting against the roof of the apartment. "Should I bring you a blanket?"

Hinata stuck out her tongue at him. "I'm not going to sleep out here."

Knives rolled his eyes and turned from the window with a slight glare. Hinata pouted slightly, afraid she may have annoyed him she started to get up when Knives jump out from the window, the blanket from his bed in his hand.

Laying the blanket around Hinata's shoulder's, Knives sat down next to her. "I didn't think you were crazy enough to sleep out here. It's just a bit cold out."

"Oh. Thanks."

Knives gave a shrug as the two sat quietly under the stars.

* * *

The next morning Knives made his way into the kitchen, despite being up fairly early, Hinata quickly guided him towards the door before he could get a bite to eat and headed straight for the training grounds.

"I think it's time we adjusted some of your training."

"What this time?"

Hinata smiled. "Lee."

"I shall show you the way to truly master Taijustsu!"

Knives raised an eyebrow as he stared at the enthusiastic man in front of him. He'd crossed paths with Lee from time to time before, but never had he done more than that. "Want to explain a bit?"

"Lee is one of the best in Taijustsu. He's going to show you the ropes. Oh and you're gonna need these." Stepping closer to Knives, Hinata dropped a pair of weight sets on the ground in front of him.

Picking up one of the weight wraps, Knives felt his body fall forward, the weight dropping to the ground with a loud thud as he let go just before falling the rest of the way to the ground with it. "You have got to be joking!"

Hinata rested a hand on Knives shoulder. "Not even close. I'll be back in about three hours."

Knives mouth dropped. "Where are you going!"

"I have something I have to do. I'll be back in a few hours."

"Huh-hey wait-Hinata!" Knives looked at the weights then over at Lee. His jaw dropped as he watched the man jumping up and down, the same set of weights attached to him. "What is with these people?"

Hinata on the other hand, had her hands full as she set off into town. Since they were going to be stuck in the village for a while she decided she would talk to a few of the other jounin and chuunin about helping out with Knives training as well.

Although she was doing well enough on her own, there was still room for improvement and she didn't really think Knives would complain too much about it.

By the time she returned to the training grounds she'd already enlisted Naruto, Shino and Kakashi to help with Knives training.

As she walked up to the training sight, Hinata looked over the two, a laugh escaping her lips as she stared at Lee who was still bouncing around as energetically as he ever was. Knives, however, was spralled out on the ground, his arms outstretched against the grass.

"That was an excellent battle! Trully a worthy opponent!"

"Did he wear you out already?"

Knives glanced up at Hinata. "That man .. isn't human .."

She laughed. "That's interesting coming from you."

Rolling over, Knives stood and stretched with a yawn. "What kept you so long anyway?"

"I told you I had some earns to run."

"Who else will fight me! Hinata!"

"Eh!" Hinata turned bright red and waved her hands in front of her defensively. "Oh no no. I have to get home."

"Aww. Alright! I will train more on my own then! Yeah! Five hundred laps around the village it is!"

Sneaking off before Lee could try and entice them into another battle, the two returned home.


	52. Chapter 52

**_Chapter 52_**

Almost two months went by without any missions as Hinata and Knives continued their training. On some days Hinata furthered Knives training on her own, others she called in help from some of her friends.

Naruto and Kakashi were away most of the time on missions which left most of the training to Lee and Shino, however neither left a disappointment to the pair. To Hinata's surprise Knives was beginning to manage some taijustsu skills while using the weights which was an impressive feet all on it's own.

Though he was lacking in the sight of the Byakugan eyes, Knives was able to come dangerously close to matching a Hyuuga in combat. Shino had been equally helpful in his own ways, despite his odd and awkward manners.

Yawning, Hinata brushed through her hair gently as she sat in the living room space of the apartment. She looked over into the kitchen as Knives pulled out a bowl of ramen. Though he still acted like a hard head from time to time, Knives had changed drastically.

He'd adjusted to living in the village and as long as he was kept at a distance from his brother at least half the time, Knives seemed to remain a lot calmer than he used to. He'd become friends with several of the other ninja in the village and at least to Hinata lost some of the coldness that he'd once held in his eyes.

"Is Shino going to meet us later?"

Putting the brush down, Hinata began combing through her hair with her hand a few times. "No. He's been assigned a mission. I heard Naruto got back though."

"How come I haven't been assigned anything?"

Hinata sighed. "Take that up with Tsunade-sama."

"Yeah, yeah."

With a roll of her eyes, Hinata walked out of the room and back into her own room. The village and both of their lives had been a lot calmer over the last few months. Neither of them had heard a thing about Orrochimaru or about the Ancients.

Not only had Knives been removed from missions but she had as well. Though the sudden silence had been unnerving, Hinata did not question the Hokage's decision. At least not yet. No matter how they looked at the situation they just weren't ready to face this battle yet. The more time they had to train the better off they were.

"Naruto should be at the training ground soon."

"Then let's get going."

Nodding, Hinata picked up her pouch and headed out the door with Knives behind her. Naruto was already waiting in the training area when the two arrived, his own training in progress as Naruto dispersed his clones.

"Hey! Hinata!"

"I don't really see why I have to train with him."

Hinata gave Knives a glare as she waved to Naruto. "Naruto is a great Ninja. You can learn a lot from him." Knives crossed his arms as the blonde haired man approached them. "Good morning Naruto."

"Morning Hinata." His voice lowered slightly. "Knives .."

Knives eyebrow twitched slightly though he did not reply. Looking between the two Hinata offered a small smile and then gave Knives a small pat on the back. "Well I'll leave you two ta train!"

"EH! Hinata!" Knives yelled but she was already gone.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama?"

"Come in."

Slowly Hinata came through the doorway, her eyes on the small but empty room around her. "I wanted to speak to you about being put back in missions."

"No."

Hinata fidgeted slightly. "Up until now I've remained quiet about this. I've even said nothing about the Anbu that have been monitoring myself and Knives. This has gone on far too long.

What is going on!"

Tsunade eyed the young girl quietly, her eyes narrowed as she watched her. Leaning back in her chair, the Hokage looked out the window. "Sound ninja have been spotted in the borders of the fire country."

"Sound ninja?"

Tsunade turned towards Hinata and gave a nod. "We don't know what they are planning but we do know one thing. They are looking for you." Hinata did not reply. "Now if you recall Knives had several encounters with Kabuto and the Sound ninja since he's come to this village. It's not safe for him to be on high ranking missions."

Hinata Jumped in quickly. "He's ready for higher level missions."

"He's never even been to an academy!" Tsunade rawred. "He's unpredictable and too close to the situation with Orrochimaru. Until further notice the both of you will remain in the village."

Hinata gave a sigh. "I understand." Turning she left the room. Her fist clenched tightly as she thought deeply about the situation. She felt like a prisoner within the city. How long would they would be have to stay like this? What if Orrochimaru attacked the village?

Hinata stopped in the hallway, her head hung down towards the floor as she clenched her fists even tighter. Is that what it would take for something more to be done? Would they be trapped here until Orrochimaru decided to attack the village?

Just outside the training grounds several explosions set smoke high into the air. Frustrated, Hinata ran from the building and headed down towards where she'd left Knives and Naruto. _Please don't let them have gotten carried away_.


	53. Chapter 53

_**Chapter 53**_

Hinata jumped down from one of the rooftops and skidded into the clearing as she finally arrived at the scene of the trouble. Shikamaru was already there, and both Knives and Naruto were trapped in a Shadow Possession Jutsu. They both were glaring intently at the other. Hinata gave Shikamaru a once over, noting that he seemed more irritated then usual.

"Man, this is so troublesome."

"Oh no, what happened!"

"I will not train him!" Naruto rawred.

"I never wanted you too anyway!"

Hinata stood in between the two as Shikamaru released his technique on them. Naruto folded his arms, his face turning into a child like scowl while Knives mimicking the look with a more deadly one. Hinata watched for a moment with a puzzled expression.

"What's gotten into you two?"

"He's completely arrogant and rude!"

Knives growled. "Hokage! Hokage! All he keeps spouting about is being Hokage! He's annoying!"

"You're annoying!"

"Pathetic human!"

"Oh yeah!"

Hinata put a hand behind her head as she watched the two get into each other's face, unable to figure out how to even break up such a bickering battle as this. _He's worse with Naruto then when he's around Vash._

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"Wa-Wait!"

Several explosive tags flew into the surrounding clones, the smoke filling the air around them as they all were sent flying across the grounds. Hinata coughed harshly, her arms in front of her face as she waited for the smoke to clear.

The clones were gone. She could hear Knives grumbling to her left, something about not realizing he'd grabbed so many at once. Further ahead, she could just barely make out Naruto who was laying sprawled out on the ground.

"Oh no! Naruto are you alright?"

"Ehh-huh?"

* * *

Hinata gave a sigh. "Ya know that wasn't very nice."

"Oh come off it. The guy is annoying."

Hinata scowled as they walked into the apartment. "That 'guy' is one of the best ninja in the village."

Knives rolled his eyes. "You talk about him as if you like him."

Hinata froze, her body stiffening. She had at one time liked Naruto quite a bit. No one had ever noticed it so why did he have to? And why now? Her reaction, however, seemed to strike a nerve.

"You do like him."

"No. I don't."

Hinata tossed her pouch onto the table.

"Then why do you talk so highly of him?" Knives persisted. "Why are you getting on my case to train with him?"

Hinata spun around, her hands slamming down against the table. "You really don't want to train with him then don't train with him! Don't go trying to make a big deal out of nothing!"

Knives pointed a finger at Hinata. "But this is something. In fact this isn't about me at all. You just wanted me to train with Naruto as an excuse!"

"An excuse!"

Knives glared, his arms folded. "You just used it as an excuse to see Naruto!"

Hinata threw her hands up in the air. "Oh! For someone so clever you have a few screws loose!

Tell me if that's the case then why wasn't I there all day!"

Knives gave a light but satisfied shrug. "I don't know, you tell me."

Hinata huffed angrily as she started circling the table towards Knives. "After everything I've gone through to train you and you-you accuse me of such absurd things!" She stopped after a few steps. "Why does this whole thing bother you so much?"

Knives took a step back before turning towards the kitchen and routing through some of the supplies. "It doesn't."

Hinata followed him, her anger turning to curiosity. "Yes it does. This entire argument started with you thinking I like Naruto." Hinata stood behind Knives as she stared at him, silent for only a brief moment that seemed to stretch on for minutes. "You're jealous-"

"I have nothing to be jealous of!"

The two fell silent. Hinata returned to her room while Knives decided to leave the apartment altogether. By the time night had fallen Knives had already walked across most of the city.

_"You're jealous-"_

He wasn't really jealous, was he? What did he have to be jealous of? Sitting down at one of the benches, Knives rested his head in his hands and took a deep breath. _What have I gotten myself into?_ Knives ran his hand back through his hair and looked up at the night sky.

It wasn't like him to care what a human even thought let alone care about a human. Everything had changed since he'd met Hinata. He'd changed.

Yes, he was jealous. He was jealous of Naruto, and he was jealous that Hinata thought so highly of him. He couldn't keep denying that anymore. With a heavy sigh, Knives headed back home quietly. Despite his own admissions, he still did not know what to do.


	54. Chapter 54

The next morning Knives awoke to an empty apartment. Stepping out into the kitchen he ruffled his hair slightly. There was no note or message on the table as their normally was, nor did it appear that Hinata had eaten before she'd left. With an annoyed scowl, he grabbed his side pouch and headed towards the training grounds.

As he wandered through the city, Knives couldn't help glancing around, hoping he might run into Hinata along the way, but still came up empty. The training grounds were mostly deserted aside from a few genin that were training for the day.

By mid day, Knives had be across more than half the town, but still, he hadn't come across Hinata. Even Kiba had not seen her. Where ever she had gone, she did not want to be found. Stopping in front of the ramen shop, Knives decided to order a bowl and quietly sat down at the counter.

"Hey old man! Another bowl!"

"Sure thing Naruto."

Knives froze, gritting his teeth at the name, his eyes glancing over just briefly to look at the blonde man, then back at the counter. Why did he have to be here of all places? His bowl was placed on the counter in front of him and he ate silently, ignoring Naruto's loud and obnoxious words.

_How does she even like someone like him?_

"Hey Naruto!"

"Kakashi-sensai! Are you here to get ramen too?"

Kakashi gave a gentle laugh, his hand lifting in a small gesture. "Actually no. I was looking for Knives."

Naruto blinked for a moment, for the first time glancing across the table and noticing the form there. He would start to glare while Knives seemed oblivious as his eyes were on Kakashi, a look of surprise on his face.

"Me?"

Kakashi nodded. "Would you mind walking with me?"

"Uh-sure." Digging into his pocket, Knives pulled some change and set it down on the table before standing. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he followed Kakashi out of the restruant. "What's up?"

"Hinata wanted me to train you today."

Knives tilted his head slightly, a look of bewilderment present on his face. "You've seen her?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment, his attention seeming a bit distracted. "About an hour ago."

"Oh-"

* * *

"Kakashi-sensai?"

"Hm?"

Hinata kept her eyes on the man who was sitting on the roof of the building, that book of his as present as it always was. "I know you've been pretty busy, but I need someone to train Knives. It's not going so well between hi and Naruto."

"Hmm" Kakashi observed her for a few minutes and then sighed, his book closing as he looked up. "I've got some time before my next mission." he gave her a smile.

* * *

Hinata brought her hand up towards her mouth as she yawned lightly. Her eyes would fall on the table as Vash set the food in front of her, ever grateful for the lunch he'd made. She was still upset with Knives, and was sure if there was one place she could hide fro hi, it was around Vash.

"The place isn't much yet, but Meryl's been working on the place. She's been spending a lot of time around Ino though."

Hinata smiled. "They seemed to have been getting along well."

Vash gave a nod as he pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. "I think it's cause of the flowers. Meryl loves them." he'd rest an arm against the table. "So what brings you over this way?"

Hinata remained quiet, her eyes more so on the table as she seemed more intend on examining the texture in front of her then looking at Vash. She'd eventually look up, letting her eyes fall on the appartment. It was a lot like the one she and Knives shared though it had taken on a more relaxed feel to it. "Have you ever known Knives to get..jealous?"

Vash raised an eyebrow. "Jealous? No, never. Why do you ask?"

Hinata shook her head quickly. "No reason I guess. Just curious."

"You know, I may be his brother but-well- you actually know him a lot better than I do."

"Me?"

Vash gave a soft nod. "I'm sure this doesn't come as much of a shock but we don't get along very well. The fact that he is living in that apartment in a place like this, and with you is sheer proof that I don't know him at all anymore."

"Maybe.."

"Can I ask you something?" Hinata gave a nod. "It's been over a year since we found you back in that alley. You and Knives have been traveling together since then and you've been living together for almost half a year now. Are you a couple?"

Hinata's cheeks flushed a bright red at the question, her eyes finding the floor rather quickly as she turned away from Vash. "I-well-not really.."

"Oh." Vash laughed with some embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I just thought I'd ask since you two seem so close. ahahaha-HAHAHA!"

"Would it be wierd if I said I like him?"

"Hm?"

Hinata shook her head quickly, a small laugh forming. "Uh-nothing! I should get going-it's getting late." Standing, she headed for the door, her feet moving rather quickly while Vash was still sitting at the table with a rather bewildered expression on his face.

Once she was out the door, Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. What was she thinking blurting out soething like that in front of Vash? Even if she did feel something towards Knives, there was no way that he would feel the same. She'd accepted that long ago.

Walking through the village, Hinata glanced at the area around her. She rarely came to this side of the village. Because the two seemed to need so much space between them, Vash had opted to find an apartment near where the rebuilding was taking place.

_I wonder what Vash will do once it's finished._

Stopping for a moment, Hinata decided to head out towards the usual training site to check on Knives training with Kakashi. She didn't expect to find a confrontation like what happened with Naruto, but still she wanted to see how things were going.

Hinata leaned against the tree as she watched the two from a distance so as to not interupt. She'd had some time to cool off, but she still wasn't in the mood to speak with Knives. Not just yet.

"Oi! Hinata!"

"Kiba?" Kiba waved, Akumaru standing loyally beside him. Jumping down from the tree branck, Hinata tilted her head curiously. "What are you doing out here?"

"Tsunade-sama sent me. She said she wants to talk to you."

"Tsunade?" Hinata glanced back towards Knives quietly before returning her gaze to Kiba as she gave a light nod. "Thanks Kiba." she headed towards the Hokage's office, Kiba and Akumaru walking with her.


	55. Chapter 55

The door gave a squeal as it opened, Hinata slowly stepping into the familiar room that was the Hokage's office. Towards the back window the Hokage, Tsunade-sama, sat at her desk as she usually did. unlike most days, however, it wasn't piled as high in paper work.

"You wanted to see me?"

Nodding, Tsunade leaned forward, her elbows leaning against the desk. "As you are aware you and Knives have been removed from missions." She gave a heavy sigh. "As of this moment I am returning you to full duty as Ninja. You will accompany Kakashi's team to scout a small village in the Fire County."

Hinata was silent for a moment, shifting slightly though she gave a small nod. "Has something happened?"

Tsunade gave a nod of her own. "Two villages to the East have been completely destroyed. I sent a team to assess the situation but they have not reported for several days."

"A rescue mission?" Again Tsunade nodded. "When do we leave?"

"In two hours."

Nodding once more, Hinata turned and headed out of the room. "Oh, and if you see Kakashi tell him to come see me." with a small hand gesture, Hinata closed the door. She was partly relieved they were being returned to missions, but at the same time concerned.

_She changed her mind after having us removed from missions and monitored by Anbu. Whatever is going on out there, it's bad. _

Taking a deep breath, Hinata hurried out to the training grounds. Both Kakashi and Knives were still training heavily with ninjutsu. _I wonder if he's still mad at me._ As she walked closer towards the two, it was Kakashi who first spotted her and told Knives to take a break.

It was only a moment or two later that Knives turned to see Hinata as well, and she noticed that he tensed instantly. _He's still mad._

"Kakashi-sensai, Tsunade-sama said that she wanted to see you."

"Oh? Well I best get going. Not wise to make her wait then." Quickly he walked passed both of them before calling out "Later." from down the road.

Hinata glanced at Knives briefly, both still exceptionally silent. He still looked tense and very uneasy. Despite the fact that he had a few bruises and a torn sleeve, he hardly looked tired at all. "Tsunade-sama has given us a mission. We have two hours to pack."

Unsure what else to say, Hinata turned and headed back home. She wasn't sure if Knives would say anything, but he did after a few seconds begin to follow her. Silence reined over the two as they walked through the streets and back to the small apartment that they shared. It wasn't until both of them were inside that the silence was broken.

"Sorry."

Hinata stopped, her body frozen. She didn't turn or even attempt a reply. The word had come from his lips so softly that she hadn't even been entirely sure he'd spoken at all.

"I upset you yesterday and I didn't mean to."

Forcing her body to turn, Hinata stared at Knives with a bewildered look. She'd seen a lot of changes in him, but this was a new one altogether. _He's actually apologizing?_ His head was lowered and he seemed to be staring intently at the floor as though there was something there that he needed to pick up. It occurred to her that he was waiting for her to say something, anything maybe, before she finally spoke.

"Forget about it. I overreacted. I mean it's not like-"

"You were right."

"Huh?"

Knives lifted his head, his face seeming different then usual. It appeared more sad, and perhaps confused from what Hinata could make of it. "You were right. I got jealous. I don't know why."

_Am I imagining things?_ She shook her head at the thought. Knives had a genuinely serious and sad expression on his face. He was admitting that he got jealous. Hinata turned the whole way to face Knives, though she didn't move any closer to him. She had no idea what to even say on the subject.

Putting on as big of a smile as she could Hinata blurted out the first thing she could think of. "Hey it's ok, really! It's just a silly little fight. Come on we have a mission to get ready for." She kicked herself almost immediately for her words. In less then a second she saw two emotions pass over Knives face. She noticed him wince slightly as though she'd actually smacked him and then looked more sad then before. In that small second his whole face changed and she was staring at a familiar fake smile.

"Right. Don't want to keep everyone else waiting."

Knives moved quickly and passed Hinata, his eyes averted in another direction and moved swiftly to his own room. Hinata stood still facing the door, her smile completely gone. _Knives, it hurts not telling you the truth. Would you still stay if I said it?_ She wanted to believe the answer was yes, but she knew that was an answer she'd never get. He'd leave and live somewhere else, or maybe even leave the village altogether.

Finally able to make her feet move, Hinata headed to her own room to pack her things. At a quarter till both met in the living room and went over their equipment before they started towards the main gate. Naruto and Sakura were already waiting though Kakashi seemed to be missing.

"Hinata!"

Hinata blushed as Naruto and Sakura called out to her. She could hear a strange annoyed sound coming from beside her.

"I didn't realize you were coming."

"Of course I am! We're team seven! Why are you here anyway!"

Knives grumbled, his bag falling to the ground beside him. "What was that! You want me to finish what I started the other day?"

"Just try it!"

"Hey, hey, Naruto stop it!" Sakura yelled as she thrust her fist into the back of Naruto's head.

"Ow. Ow. Sakura!"

Hinata lowered her head and gave a sigh. They hadn't even been there for five minutes and already things were not going well. Why had Tsunade-sama sent them on this mission anyway? Surely she understood how difficult Knives and Naruto were together.

"Well, doesn't this seem familiar." Kakashi gave a small laugh as he smiled over at the group. "Glad you're all ready to go, but how about we leave behind the bickering hmm?"

Both Knives and Naruto glared towards each other before turning in opposite directions, their arms folding over their chests. Hinata blinked before turning to Kakashi with a small smile in thanks.

"Well since we're all here I'll brief you on the mission. We're to head out East where two of our villages have been attacked. Four days ago a team had been dispatched to assess the situation and neither returned nor sent a report back to the village. We're to scout out the area and find the missing team."

Everyone gave a nod and then Kakashi smiled. "Well then, let's go."


	56. Chapter 56

Knives POV

Yawning, I stretched my body and leaned back, my body pressing against the tree behind me. We'd stopped about four or five hours after leaving the village and camped out for the night. Our travel had remained in silence for the most part aside from more discussions about the mission. Hinata, however, hadn't said much of anything.

In fact she didn't even look my way once. She'd been distant since the fight a few days ago, and even though I'd admitted an apology it seemed to be only getting worse. Why had I even done something so pathetic anyway? I apologized as though I was lower than her.

That thought alone pulled my attention away from it's focus on her for the rest of that day. Instead I focused more on the other three, though that was hardly of interest either. All they kept talking about was whether Orrochimaru was involved or if this mission might lead them to Sasuke.

Sasuke. Sasuke. That's all they ever thought about. What was the big deal about him anyway? From what I'd heard the fool left the village of his own choice and choose to go to that Orrochimaru. Why were they so intent on bringing him back?

As I packed my supplies, I gave a sigh of irritation. It was a new day now, and hopefully it would be better than yesterday. Glancing at Hinata, I noticed she was looking at me. Instantly I tensed and she looked away. _What was that about?_

"Alright, everyone ready?"

Both Sakura and Naruto replied in unison. Nodding once I walked over to the group. Again I chanced a peek at Hinata, but she was looking away. _What the hell is with this tension?_ I should never have even said anything. Why did I even think a human would accept my apology anyway?

"Knives?"

I looked up as we moved through the forest. Kakashi was watching me. _Damn he probably notices something is wrong._ "Hm?" Kakashi glanced back at Hinata for a moment. She was further behind us, Naruto and Sakura in the middle. I hadn't even realized she'd stayed so far behind.

"I don't know what's going on between you two, but we need you to focus. We'll be heading into enemy territory soon."

I looked away from him, shadowing whatever emotions I'd let slip onto my face with a look of indiffence. "I understand." He glanced at me again, but said nothing.

It wasn't until everyone stopped that the silence was once more broken. "Wha-What happened here?" Naruto's voice filled my ears, my eyes on the village ahead of us. It had been burned to the ground, debris and rumble stretched arcross what once was a village much like Konaha. _Humans lived here and humans destroyed it. It's the same thing, even here._

"Weren't there two villages that had been destroyed?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi nodded. "The other is further east from here. We should split up and look around. We have no way of telling how far the team before us got."

Sighing I jumped down from the tree branch and started towards the villages with the rest of the group. I highly doubted the other team was anywhere around here but there was no point arguing over it. Stopping in the midst of some debris I wonder why I was even here.

Looking back on everything over the past year I started to wonder what would have happened if I never followed Hinata. _If I'd never followed her I could have eventually escaped Vash and gone back to the same life I had before._ And then what would I do? Become like the people who destroyed this village and kill others?

For a brief moment the thought made me sick and then it was replaced with an overwhelming level of anger. _I should never have followed her. I'm becoming like that idiot brother of mine._ Pulling myself out of my thoughts I looked over at the others, my eyes resting on Hinata.

Her face was more sad then usual, her eyes focused on the ground. Slowly she bent down to the ground and picked up something I couldn't quite see. Without thinking, I started to walk closer to her, not reallizing what I was doing until I was standing beside her.

In her hands was a small chared stuff doll. "It's not right." I remained quiet, though I was sure she knew I'd come to stand behind her. "These people didn't deserve this." Standing she clutched the doll in her hand and looked back at me.

Her face had gone from sad to angry. A few tears fell down her face and somehow I understood what she was thinking. _Whoever did this doesn't deserve to be called human_. I placed my hand on her shoulder and in that moment realized something that made my skin crawl.

I cared about her. I cared whether she was sad or angry. I cared that this bothered her. _But why?_ I didn't give that inner thought time to grow. Right now she needed my attention more. "We'll find them." She nodded once and then laid the doll down amidst the debris.

"Looks like the team passed through here." Kakashi came up behind us, a small dog I recognized as Pakun at his feet. "We found tracks past the village."

"Then we should keep going." Hinata replied instantly. "The team may still be alive."

I gave a nod. Hinata's expression had changed again, though I could see in her eyes that the anger she was feeling was still there. We rejoined Sakura and Naruto towards the edge of the forest and again continued our pursuit. Despite all the training and the missions I'd already accompanied, nothing could have prepared me for what I would soon face.


	57. Chapter 57

Knives POV

It was the sound of the birds that first woke me. I squinted my eyes from the brightness of the morning sun. Morning? My body bolted forward, each muscle tensing with excutiating pain in the process. I rested my hand against my head, attempting to rationalize where I was.

Bandages covered almost all of my body, and the intense pain was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see figures just outside the door. Pieces of conversation reached my ears.

_I'm in Konaha?_

Carefully I dropped my arm to my side, the muscles ever grateful, but my mind was still trying to trace back through the last events of the battle. It'd been a trap. We'd been confronted by several enemy forces, including Kabuto. Just the thought of that man made my anger surface.

As soon as the battle had begun we'd all been separated across the landscape and I'd quickly found myself against someone I couldn't even match.

"You're awake." My eyes drifted towards the door once more, taking in the image of the pink haired woman wearing a white medical uniform. "You had us worried." She took a few steps forward, th echart in her hand coming to rest against the table beside the bed. "Your injuries were pretty bad-"

"What about Hinata?"

The silent response told me all I needed to know, but I was too weary to demand more answers as she tended to my wounds. "Vash was in to see you. He's been worried crazy." I made no reply and adverted my eyes to stare at the wall on the other side of the room.

I felt Sakura pull away, her eyes never leaving me. The tension and deafing silence was annoying, but I was in no shape to go anywhere. _Why can't she just go away._ As if she could hear my thoughts, Sakura turned and headed for the door.

I could feel the irritation growing inside me. I'd gotten what I wanted, but now I was angrier than before. _Stupid Vash. This is his fault. him and those humans. _I let myself fall too far, and now I was feeling their rediculous emotions. I was in pain, and all I wanted was for someone to tell me where Hinata was!

"Yo." My vision shifted towards the window that had been left open. There, half leaned into view was Kakashi. I redirected my vision back towards the wall in front of me. Would he avoid my question too? "Do you remember what happened?"

"We were separated. I- I couldn't defeat him-" The last words were like torture to say. How was it just by being in a different world that there were people stronger than me! Guess the rules change. I caught a gentle nod from Kakashi as he moved to sit with his back leaned out the window. "Where is Hinata?" Again there was that silence. _Why won't anyone answer me?_

"Hinata is missing." I felt my stomach tighten and my eyes widen. Despite the pain that filled my body, my head wirled around to face Kakashi. "We found you, but there was no trace of Hinata." His arms crossed. "From what the Anbu reported after our return, we're pretty sure she was captured."

_No.._

"Are you sure! Did they check the entire area! She might still be out there!"

"Calm down." I grit my teeth as I saw his hand extend out to rest against my shoulder. Anger filled me. She was gone? "The Anbu found the battle site as well as traces of her blood trailing towards the border. They're followed the trail as far as they could but so far nothing."

My body trembled as he spoke. Hinata was really gone. Orrochimaru would do who knows what to her. Before it even registered in my own mind, I was already on my feet and moving towards the shelf where my clothes had been placed.

"Knives, you shouldn't be up. You sustained severe wounds-"

"I can't leave Hinata out there." My mind was on a one track path and stopping for nothing as I quickly pulled my clothes onto my body, ignoring the aches and pains that coursed over me. _Hinata suffered from him before. I can't let it happen again._

"Just calm down Knives. You're in no condition to go after her." I made no reply as I threw the blue shirt over my head and pulled it down over my waist. I didn't have time to waste. Hinata was too important for me to sit around resting. "Just stop and think for a minute."

"What am I supposed to think about?"

I heard his foot steps against the floor. He'd made his way further into the room. "We don't know where they are or what Orrochimaru wants with her but he'd held her captured before, right?"

I raised an eyebrow as I turned to glare at him. Was there a point to this? "Yeah."

Kakashi crossed his arms against his chest. "Then he needs her alive. If you go rushing after her in your state you'll only get yourself killed. Give us time to track them down."

"And I'm supposed to do what in the mean time?"

"Train. You'll need to grow stronger if you want to go against them."

I felt my teeth clench together tightly. _Infuriating._ How did all these humans go from being pathetic worthless garbage to capable of being stronger than me? I looked down at my hands, staring at the bandages that covered them and trailed up my arms. Kakashi was right. The life I'd lived back on that desert planet was a part of the past. A place were I had been the strongest. Here though. Here I was far from the strongest despite being a supior being. If i wanted to become stronger I had to get with this world and work harder.

I let out a sigh, my hands becoming fists as I looked up at Kakashi. "I need someone to train me."

Kakashi nodded. "That's right, Hinata was covering most of your training. Well then, I'll continue it." Shock filled me. "After you've healed."

"Right."

I watched him return to the window and head off with a light wave. I would continue to train and as soon as they found out where Hinata was, I would be on her trail. Slowly I slid over to the window, my hands resting against it as i stared out at the village. Change was in the air, and it was time I followed it. _Wait for me, Hinata._

TBC

Lost track of the direction I was going with this story for a while, but feels like I got it back on track. The Ninja and the Gunman story is officially complete, but their story is far, far from over.


	58. Teaser

Hey ya folks, it's been a long road through this story. It's taken me some time to finally complete it and appreciate the support of all those who have stuck with the story and enjoyed it. Although Ninja and the Gunman is now a complete piece their story will continue in 'The Delicate Fabric of Fate'. The first chapter will be uploaded on Aug 1st 2012 and a chapter will be uploaded as frequently as possible afterwards. In the mean time I have a sneak peek at what is to come.

Teaser for 'The Delicate Fabric of Fate'

I stood there in the middle of the street, my eyes unable to leave the woman who had just been shopping. Had she not heard me? I watched as she turned from the small shop with her bag in hand and, without even a glance in my direction started off down the street.

I felt frozen in place. Was she ignoring me? My eyes followed her form as she weaved through the crowd of people moving through town. Willing my feet to move I followed after her, my prior destination forgotten.

Despite my chase it seemed as though she was only moving farther away. I bumbed into a man who shouted at me, but I paid him no attention at all as I darted through the crowd. Reaching out my hand, I grasped for her arm, and within seconds felt myself gasping for air.

The moment my hand wrapped around her small wrist, everything moved faster than I could process. In less than a second Hinata whirled around and slammed her palm into my chest, a gasp of air ripping painfully up my body as I was flung several feet back, and into a wall.

A cough tore through my throat as pain filled my body. Her blow had been no small tap, and had I been human I was sure it might very well have killed me.


End file.
